


Time & Space

by Calminaiel



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Campaign 1 spoilers through ep 99, Campaign 2 spoilers through ep 56, Dunamancy fucks everything up, Intrigue, VM/M9 Crossover, Work In Progress, ish
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-01
Updated: 2019-10-01
Packaged: 2019-12-30 05:10:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 22,248
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18308846
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Calminaiel/pseuds/Calminaiel
Summary: A grungy wizard appears in Scanlan's mansion and a feathery half-elf appears in Xhorhas.





	1. Caleb: 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is based on the prompt "Caleb and Vax switch parties for a day" and then kinda got outta control from there...

“Who the _fuck_ are you, and where the _fuck_ is my brother?”

The arrow was aimed directly for his forehead and from the look in the woman’s eyes, he suspected she was not accustomed to missing.

Caleb shook his head slightly. The truth is, he had no idea where he was, let alone where this woman’s brother was… A minute ago he and Beau had been bickering in the library. The book they’d been arguing over had been open on the table and as he’d turned the page a bright flash of light enveloped the room… by the time he’d blinked away the momentary blindness he’d found himself in an unfamiliar room, _a dining hall by the looks of it,_ with an unfamiliar group staring at him with various degrees of hostility.

“I do not know who your brother is… and I do not know where I am right now.” Caleb kept his voice measured, eyes darting to the other faces in the room.

A gnome in what looked like a purple silk robe sat at the table alongside a redheaded half-elf. They both looked more surprised than aggressive, and he couldn’t immediately see any weapons on them. Another gnome, a woman with some sort of amulet around her neck, stood behind the redhead, her hand placed protectively on the other woman’s shoulder.

“Scanlan!” A massive, hulking figure stood in stark contrast beside the female gnome. “What the fuck jus’ happened?” Caleb was immediately reminded of some of the creatures he’d seen in Assarius and he couldn’t help but swallow audibly as he watched the man’s grip tighten on an enormous greataxe.

The still-seated gnome cocked his head a bit, “Well. I don’t know… He shouldn’t be here… that’s for sure.”

Caleb couldn’t help but nod at that, that much was abundantly clear. “I assure you,” he met the eyes of the dark-haired archer, “I am not here by any choice of my own.”

“How the fuck did he get in here, Scanlan?” The woman in front of him showed no sign of relenting, and Caleb cast his eyes toward the man called Scanlan.  
“Did you planeshift here?” The redhead asked, her voice was small and more timid than he’d expected, “ _Could_ he even planeshift here? If you haven’t invited him in?” She turned to Scanlan who shrugged.

“No one can enter the mansion unless I’ve invited them in… So something’s up.”

“What’d he do to Vax?” The muscled man growled and Caleb felt more than a twinge of real fear. _It’s one thing to show up in their home uninvited, it’s another thing entirely when they think you’ve done something to one of their own._

“What’s your name?” The voice came from behind him and Caleb startled for a moment, not daring to turn to see who the smooth, practiced voice belonged to.

“My name is Caleb Widogast. Last I knew I was in Xhorhas… Where am I now?”

“Did you say Xhorhas?” The owner of the voice stepped into view. A young, lanky man with white hair and glasses, “In Wildemount?”

“Ja.”

“Does that mean something to you, Percy?” The gnomish woman spoke, her voice more curious than accusatory, _possibly a good sign._

“It’s the far easternmost part Wildemount.” He looked Caleb up and down appraisingly. “Where do you come from originally, Mr. Widogast?”

Caleb hesitated only a moment before deciding that any falsehoods at this point would do him more harm than good. “The Dwendalian Empire.”

“Also in Wildemount.” Percy supplied to the others. “Actually,” he turned back to Caleb, “Anywhere near Deastok by chance?”

Caleb shook his head, “Near Rexxentrum, a bit further north along the Amber Road.”

Percy looked at the others and shrugged. “Worth a shot. Thought he might’ve had some connection to Tary.”

“Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t put this arrow through your skull.” The woman’s voice was still sharp and Caleb was surprised to see fear behind her eyes.

“I can only suspect that you are all as confused as I am. I would like to get home, and if there is some way that I can help you find your brother perhaps we could all work together, ja?” A moment of tense silence passed before the woman slowly lowered her bow. “Danke.”

“What were you doing right before you came here?” The gnomish woman gestured for him to sit at the long table as she herself took her seat once more.

“I was in a library.” He looked at the two flanking him, Percy and the ranger. They made no sign to stop him, so he took a seat across from the others. “I was looking at a book with a friend.”

“Is that friend a magic user?” The redhead leaned forward, seemingly eager for the puzzle presented before her.

“Nein. She is a fighter. A monk of the Cobalt Soul.”

“In Westruun?” The ranger remained standing behind him.

“That’s the Cobalt Reserve.” The gnomish woman corrected gently. “Is she from Wildemount too?”

Caleb nodded,  “Where are we now?”

“That’s a tricky question.” Scanlan smiled, “because right now you’re in my mansion.”

“And it is not on the material plane?” Caleb hazarded.

“How did you know that?” The woman behind him was clearly mistrusting as he turned to meet her eyes.

“It was suggested that I might have planeshifted to get here.”

“Oops.” The redhead’s voice behind him went unacknowledged though as he maintained eye contact with the ranger.

“Fine.” She glowered.

“I am outnumbered by 5. I understand that my odds are not good if I do not cooperate.” Caleb said by way of reassurance.

“And you can rest assured,” Percy said as he came to stand beside the glowering half-elf, “even were the numbers not so dramatically in our favor, you wouldn’t last a minute against any one of us if we suspect ill intent.”

He took the woman’s hand and gave her a pacifying look, which she returned with one of undisguised fear.  
“We have no idea where Vax is.”

“He’s probably in Wildemount, right?” The gnomish woman looked at the others, “If that’s where Caleb came from… He appeared, standing right where Vax was… Don’t you all think they probably just… switched somehow?”

“Pike’s right.” Scanlan said. “It makes the most sense to assume he’s wherever this guy came from.” He looked at Caleb, “was it just you and the monk?”

“I travel with several others. Beauregard and I were the only two inside the library, however. The rest were going to wait outside.”

“What do you do, Caleb?” The redhead looked at him expectantly, “Like, Vex shoots arrows, I’m a druid of the Air Ashari…”

“Yeah.” The deep bassy voice of the giant man spoke up again, “You got any weapons on ya?”

“I have my spellbooks, ja.” The atmosphere at the table shifted a bit as they all realized their oversight. “But like I said, I know what my situation is.”

“Okay.” The woman- Pike- said slowly. “Well let’s just try to figure this out. I’m sure wherever Vax is, he’s having the same conversation.”

“Beauregard can be a stubborn person to try to convince.” Caleb said with a slightly worried expression, _I hope she does not do too much damage to him._

“Vax has a bit of a stubborn streak.” Scanlan said with a smile, “And a shitton of daggers.”

That worried Caleb momentarily, but he trusted Beau could take care of herself.

“So he is your brother?”

“Twin brother.” The druid corrected. "His name is Vax. That’s Vex, I’m Keyleth. This is Percy, Scanlan, Pike, and Grog.” She pointed to each in turn and Caleb nodded at them. “We’re in Tal’dorei. Not far from the Turst Fields.”

Caleb had seen maps of Tal’dorei in books back in his time at the Academy, but he had never travelled beyond Wildemount, excepting the Nein’s adventures at sea. He nodded nevertheless in understanding and looked around at the others. “I am sorry about your brother. I do not know if I somehow played a part in this or how he and I are connected, but I will help you in whatever way I can.”

“Well, do we just want to go to where you came from? Would your group think of doing that? Are they going to show up outside where we are right now?” Scanlan was absentmindedly playing with the string of his robe as he wondered aloud. “Also we’re almost out of mansion time.”

“Shit, you’re right! We cast it before the feast yesterday morning…” Pike looked at the others and they all looked at Caleb, “Do you think your group will try to bring him home?”

“Do you have a quick means of transportation?” Percy met his eyes with a surprising intensity in his gaze.

“Ja,” Caleb said with a small shrug, “relatively quick. We have moorbounders. They are like… big cats.”

“Big cats?” Keyleth looked delighted, “Like a tiger?”  
“Oh much bigger.” Caleb held his hand up to about where Jannik’s shoulder came and Keyleth gasped.

“That’s huge! What do they look like?”

“Keyleth!” Vex’s voice sliced through their conversation, “Not the time, darling!”

“Right!” Keyleth nodded solemnly, looking at Caleb before muttering “You can tell me about them later.”

Caleb couldn’t help the small smile, but he quickly tamped it down as he watched Vex’s expression of stoic concentration.

“We’ll go to them, then. Keyleth, can you scry on him?”

“I can use the scrying eye.” She nodded. “But I’ll have to do it from outside the mansion.”

“Good.” Vex sounded more than a little relieved and Caleb watched with fascination as Keyleth pulled a small orb from her pack. “Let’s go then!”

“Shit, okay!” Scanlan jumped to his feet and and hurried off, “I have to change and grab my stuff. I’ll meet you outside!”

Percy also got to his feet, “I’ve left a few things in my workshop. Back in a minute.”

Pike came around the table to stand beside Caleb as everyone else seemed to scatter to gather their belongings. She was already wearing heavy armor that clanked as she walked with a mace slung over her shoulder. “I’m sorry this is happening to you.”

Caleb was taken aback, “What is this amulet?” he said, casting about for a way to change the subject.

“It’s the symbol of my goddess. Sarenrae?”  
Caleb nodded, “I have heard the name, but she is not one of the Empire’s approved deities.”  
“She doesn’t have as large a following as many of the other gods, but I do my best to try to live by her guidance.” She looked at Caleb with a calm, unassuming scrutiny that made him immensely uncomfortable. “Do you worship any of the gods?”

He opened his mouth to answer, but instead shook his head silently.

“That’s okay. Not everyone does. Vax, the one who’s missing, he started serving The Raven Queen not long ago. Otherwise most of our group doesn’t have much of a stake in religion.”

“I know a bit about her, but not much. My group has a few who worship different gods.”

Pike nodded and Caleb could see how she would be a comforting presence in the face of the danger they must face if they’re anything like the Nein.

“What is your group called?”

Pike smiled, “We’re known as Vox Machina. We used to be the S.H.I.T.s, but then we started getting more well known…” She smiled a mischievous smile. “What about your friends?”

“We are The Mighty Nein.”

“I like it. Straightforward.” She said with a nod. Caleb smiled, deciding not to explain the whole thing just now.

“Come on, Pike! Caleb!” Vex’ voice in the hallway pulled them from the table. They followed her down the hall to the foyer where Caleb stood, staring around, his mouth agape as he took in every detail. _This is an arcane construct?_

“Okay! Okay!” Scanlan was slinging his bag over his shoulder as he finally hurried in.

“Do you have to take everything out?” Caleb asked, noticing that they were all carrying small bags and several of them were adorned with multiple weapons.

“Everything we bring in. The mansion can provide quite a few things, but those things can’t leave. If we leave anything of ours, it just gets shat out when the mansion disappears.”

“Which will be any moment.” Percy reminded them. “An unpleasantness I’d rather not experience firsthand, if you don’t mind.”

“Let’s go.” Vex agreed, taking Percy’s hand as they exited the mansion.

They all stepped out on their own and Caleb turned to examine the small shimmering doorway behind them. “This is impressive conjuration.” He muttered. Beside him Scanlan shot him a smile, but said nothing as all eyes were now on Keyleth.

The druid held the orb in her hand once more and closed her eyes, muttering under her breath as her other hand traced arcane sigils in the air. A soft breeze picked up around them and Caleb could sense the difference in her nature-based casting. He watched with fascination as she opened her eyes, white and pupil-less as she stared into the distance, unseeing.  

About a minute later she gasped, pulling herself out of the spell.

“I saw him. He’s with a group of people. An orc, a tiefling, a human, a woman with two different colored eyes, a goblin and something I didn’t recognize.” She turned to Caleb, “Are those your friends?”

There was more than a hint of mistrust in her voice and Caleb fought the urge to defend Nott and the others, instead nodding. “He is a firbolg.”

“He’s really tall!” She looked over her shoulder at Grog, “He’s probably as tall as you, Grog!”

“Wha?” Grog looked distraught and Pike patted his arm gently.

“But he looked okay?” Vex asked nervously.

“Yeah, he seemed okay.” There was relief in Keyleth’s voice, “They were drinking tea.”

Vex raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

“There’s a problem, though.” Keyleth said.

“What’s that?”

“They were inside.”

“That’s a problem.” Percy muttered, adjusting his glasses as Keyleth looked around at the others. “No trees.” He added and Caleb, still completely lost, saw a dawning realization sweep across the group.

“I do not understand.” He looked at Keyleth who gave him an apologetic look.

“Oh! I can transport us through trees. If I’ve seen a tree I can open up a portal to it. It’s how we usually travel over long distances. It’s instantaneous. But I didn’t see any with my scry… so I can’t get us there."

“What about farts?” Vex said with such a level of seriousness that Caleb couldn’t help but feel he was somehow the target of an elaborate prank.

“That’ll take the whole day, surely! How long did it take to get to Deastok from Whitestone?” Percy asked.

“Three hours or so?”

“And this is _much_ farther east… I’d suspect we’re looking at 3 times that. Not to mention we’re starting further south.”  
“Well we could tree stride to Whitestone, or to Deastok and then mist from there?” Vex suggests anxiously, “How long can we be farts?”  
Grog chuckles behind him as Caleb watches the conversation swirl around him.

“Can we mist _and_ bamf?”  
“We can, but I’d be tapped after that.”

“So we could bamf to Deastok and then mist from there, what would that be? Another 6 hours?”

“Maybe 4 or 5.”

“But then you’re done for the day, Keyleth?”  
“I’d be done.”

Vex turned to Caleb, “How dangerous is this place we’re going?”

Caleb looked at them all, not a single one of them looked like they belonged anywhere remotely like Xhorhas. “Erm… Well it is under a drow dynasty… So I’m not sure you will blend in…”

“But _you_ were there!”

“We… we have extenuating circumstances.” Vex and Percy exchanged a glance. Caleb held his hands up, “I am not saying you will be unwelcome, but Xhorhas is at war with the Empire, and you look much more like denizens of the Empire than Xhorhasians.”

“So we probably don’t want to show up our hands tied behind our back…” Pike nodded, looking at Keyleth. “So maybe we split it into two days?”

“I could get us close and then we could mansion and sleep. Not actually show ourselves until we’ve rested.”

“That’s not a bad idea.” Vex nodded at Keyleth, “And if we could get close enough, but stay mists, we could hide the mansion somewhere outside of town and I could maybe even stealth and use the earring!”

They talked in circles for another 20 minutes before it was decided that they would try to get to Xhorhas within the day and would recast the mansion on the edge of town.

Much to his surprise, Keyleth fell in step alongside Caleb as they began toward the nearest cluster of trees dotting the lush farmland. “Tell me about the people you travel with. Are you adventurers?”

Caleb looked at her sidelong and nodded tersely, “Ja, we have had a few adventures.”

“It’s an interesting group.” She sounded a little apologetic and Caleb noticed that she was nervously twisting her hand on the beautiful staff she carried.

“We are a motley crew.” He said with a small nod.

“How long have you studied magic?”  
Caleb’s brow furrowed, “I studied as a boy, but I only got back into it about a year ago.” His voice trailed off as he tried to focus on the road ahead of them, hoping she would change the subject.

“I’m sorry if I’m talking too much.” She said with a sadness in her voice. “I’m just worried about Vax.”

“What do you think caused all of this?” Pike caught up with them, looking up at the taller human and much taller half-elf.

“I do not know.” Caleb answered truthfully. “I was looking in a book that I was hoping would hold some answers that I have been seeking…”

“A book about magic?” Pike asked.

“Ja, but not to do with teleportation, let alone anything that I can think that would cause us to switch places…”

“Can we think of anything he has in common with Vax?” Pike wondered aloud. At this point most of Vox Machina had gathered around, walking alongside Caleb and Keyleth.

“I don’t know… I’m assuming you don’t have a twin…?” Percy said with a glance at Caleb, who shook his head. “How’s your relationship with your parents?”

Caleb clenched his fists anxiously, “They are both dead.”

“But you got along while they were alive?”  
“Ja.”

“Wha’ about fightin’?” Grog asked, “Or do you jus’ use magic?”

Caleb shook his head, “Just magic.”

Grog looked disappointed, but Caleb couldn’t help feel relieved that he wasn’t going to be challenged to a duel by the massive man.

“Oh!” Keyleth looked suddenly confident, “The Raven Queen!”

“I already asked.” Pike said with a shake of her head. “He’s heard of her, but that’s not it.”  
“Maybe he’s also _fate-touched_ or whatever it is that she told him?” Vex scoffed.

“It’s possible, I suppose.” Pike looked him over and Caleb couldn’t help the prickle of indignation. He wasn’t much a fan of being the center of attention, especially not when it meant being scrutinized with this much intensity.

“I ‘fink he’s not tellin’ us everything.” Grog said menacingly.

“I am telling you everything of relevance.” Caleb could hear the frustration seeping into his voice.

Before Grog could respond Keyleth called out, “That one’s big enough!” The momentary reprieve was enough for Caleb to catch his breath as they gathered around a large tree. “Hi.” Keyleth muttered gently to the tree, placing her hand gently on the trunk.

“C’mon, Keyleth.” Vex muttered irritably. Caleb wondered if she was always this ornery or if it was a function of her brother being missing.

“Yeah, right. Sorry. Here we go.”

Caleb was about to ask what he would be expected to do, but before he had the chance, he watched the tree before him split open, revealing a tunnel with a light on the other side. A gentle rain at the other end told him without a doubt that they would be travelling quite a distance. He opened his mouth to comment, but a hand on the small of his back shoved him and he stumbled forward, joining the others as they rushed through the small opening, stopping short on the other side as their feet hit the mud and the rain began to dampen their hair.

“Sorry.” Percy’s voice came from behind him once more, the hand on his back patting him gently, “We only have 6 seconds. For whatever reason she never explains that before she opens it.”

Caleb nodded, meeting the taller man’s eyes. Around them he could hear the chatter of a town and he looked up to see a small but familiar town. While he’d never been to Deastok, he was immediately certain he was back in the Empire. The thought filled him with momentary dread as he looked around quickly to check for any sign of Crownsguard or the Righteous Brand. To his surprise, he saw very few Crownsguard, _perhaps we are too far west for the Empire to feel the need for extra security._ After all, he had no idea how the war was progressing on the Empire’s side, or what news was reaching its citizens.

“You’ve never been here before, right?” Keyleth looked at him as they began to walk in a direction that seemed to lead out of the town proper.

“Nein. My friend- the monk- is from a town near here, but I have never been.”

“We have a friend who lived here, but he’s probably off adventuring right now.” Keyleth explained.

“Should we stop and see the fancy fellow?” Scanlan asked.

“Does he still have his earring?” Pike asked.

“Oh! Good thinking, Pike!” Vex looked happier than he’d seen her as she touched the single earring she wore. Caleb looked around and noticed that most of them had an identical one, “Tary! Can you hear me?”

They all stood still for a moment, anticipation in the air.

“He’s probably off with the brigade.” Percy said gently, sliding his arm around Vex’ waist. “I suspect he doesn’t spend much time at home.”

“No. No- of course, you’re right.” Vex steeled her expression and they turned and resumed their walk in silence.

Once they’d made it out of the main part of town Keyleth turned to the others. “Okay. Remember, we can’t talk so just keep an eye on everyone. Caleb, do you know where we’re going?”

Caleb looked at the others, the confusion evident on his face, “I have no idea what is going on.”

“Oh! Sorry!” Keyleth gasped, “We totally didn’t explain any of this to you!”

Caleb listened as she described the Wind Walk spell and affirmed that he would have no problem leading them to The Mighty Nein, assuming they had not left town. “Once we get close enough, I can send a message to Nott and we can find a safe place to meet outside the city.”

The sensation of turning into mist was thoroughly unpleasant. Caleb felt as though he was melting as his physical form scattered in the air around him. He immediately saw the benefits, however, as he concentrated on flying forward the way they’d explained it. Beneath him the ground rushed at a tremendous pace and he had to force himself to focus on the horizon, _I’m not sure if mist can vomit, but I would rather not find out._

They sped across the Empire, keeping high amongst the clouds, soaring above them when the rain and sleet became too heavy below.

They traveled this way for 4 hours and 37 minutes before Caleb began to slow. They’d crossed into Xhorhas and were fast approaching their destination.

As they’d traveled, Caleb kept a keen eye below to try to catch sight of the troop movement on the border. They passed over Felderwin and, while the small town was just a blip far beneath them, Caleb couldn’t help this nagging feeling that something was wrong.

He saw no Righteous Brand moving east, no sign of masses of troops along the border...

He checked behind him to be sure the others were still following. It was an odd sight, a bit like when pipe smoke catches the breeze, leaving a trail in its wake. While he couldn’t be sure they had everyone, he was certain that the unnatural mist behind him was keeping pace, so he began to drop down toward the scarred landscape below.

Cautious to bring them down in a small cluster of mountains, Caleb began to focus, watching the others do the same as over the next minute everyone slowly solidified, shaking their limbs out and sighing with relief to once again be corporeal.

“This is it?” Vex asked, looking around the rocky outcropping where they’d landed.

“It is just at the base of this mountain.” Caleb pointed in the direction they’d been travelling. “I did not want to bring us down in the center of the city. It won’t take more than half an hour to walk to town from here.”

“Perfect.” Percy nodded, once again putting his hand reassuringly on Vex’ shoulder. “We’ll set up the mansion and rest here. We’ll go get Vax first thing in the morning.”

“Scanlan, can you use Seeming on us tomorrow?” Keyleth asks, “Make us all look like… what?” She looked to Caleb, “Like drow?”

Caleb shrugged, “That would be the least conspicuous, perhaps. Although perhaps in the Kryn armor. That will at afford you some cover for those who do not recognize you.”

“Have we met a drow?”

“Yeah!” Keyleth looked at Scanlan, “K'ryyn!”

“Who?”

“Oh shit, you weren’t with us.” Vex realized.

“I’m sure I can come up with something.” Scanlan sounded tremendously confident and Caleb raised an eyebrow at the cocky gnome.

“Have you met any tieflings?” he asked, “Our other human and I sometimes would disguise ourselves as tieflings. We would get fewer looks that way.”

“Sure. I could do tieflings.”

“Great. Well, we can do that in the morning. In the meantime let’s have the mansion and maybe a feast?” Vex looked around at the others.

Pike looked inside her bag, “I only have one Chalice left. Do we need one?”

Caleb watched Scanlan pull out a small ivory carving. His heart skipped a beat as for a brief moment he thought it was the same symbol of The Traveler that Jester wore at her hip. As he held the small carved door, a spoon and a piece of smooth stone, Caleb watched him carefully, eager to add this spell to his repertoire.

The shimmering doorway glistened before them and the rest of the group began filing in. Pike stopped beside Caleb and gave him an encouraging nod. “It’s safe. And no one can come in unless Scanlan’s invited them.”

“I believe I am proof that that is not true.”

Pike’s brow furrowed, “True… But we will figure it out in the morning. For now, let’s get you set up in your own room. Scanlan might’ve made you one, or if not there’s still plenty of room.”

Caleb nodded and followed her inside.

 

“Why don’t I make you all look like Zahra?” Scanlan said with a wry smile. There was immediately a clamor of protestations as everyone tried to describe what they wanted to look like. Caleb was still a bit groggy, but he was enjoying his oatmeal. It was strange to watch the foreign group dynamics of another adventuring party. He could imagine Fjord’s calming voice as he made sure they all spoke one at a time. He could imagine Nott’s eyes darting from person to person as she imagined the descriptions each of them were giving. Once they’d heard from Beau and Jester, Caduceus, Yasha, and Fjord would have no trouble taking turns to describe what they wanted. Caleb watched instead as this group, _Vox Machina,_ he reminded himself, eagerly chatted amongst themselves, all eager to be heard until Scanlan settled on what seemed to be a completely arbitrary decision. They’d decided that Caleb should not be in disguise. He’d assured them that there was no need, and it would make the initial contact with the Nein much easier, (not to mention he hoped it meant he wouldn’t have to say “pussy” as many times).

Caleb looked around at the others with undisguised curiosity. Before him stood a number of tieflings. Two of the tieflings were shorter than the others and one stood much taller. He’d suggested disguising the gnomes as goblins and was met with a furious refusal on the part of Scanlan that he decided not to question. The tieflings were all on the reddish spectrum, except one who was pale white. He looked at the others and groaned.  
“Scanlan!” Percy’s voice was unmistakable.

“Make him look like the rest of us!” Vex said from beside him.  
“Too late. Already cast it.” One of the little tieflings shrugged and Caleb blinked at him. He knew it was an illusion, and it somehow felt like he could see through it, though his eyes were still registering the tiefling visage.

“Fine. Let’s go.” Percy said, resigned. The pale tiefling led them out of the mansion, with Caleb walking toward the front by the female tiefling form of Keyleth. She had dark hair that hung in loose curls around her face.

“How do I look?” She asked him with a smile.

“Ja. You look like a tiefling.” Caleb nodded, making a mental note to research this spell, too.

They walked for 34 minutes before they reached the edge of town. They turned to Caleb who took the lead, headed toward the rooms where they were staying.

“Vax?” Vex touched her earring once more, looking around and taking in the dark sky above her.

Following her lead, Caleb quickly pulled out his piece of copper wire and held it to his lips, “Nott, can you hear me?”

He and Vex made eye contact as they both waited for a response.

Silence.

“Vax? Are you in range?” Keyleth spoke this time, biting her lip as she shook her head.

Caleb turned to face the library where he’d been with Beauregard. “Nott, respond to this message, bitte.”

Another moment passed as they all looked at one another.

“I’ll scry.” Keyleth said, pulling the faintly glowing orb from her bag once more.

“Let’s do it somewhere safe, Keyleth.” Vex muttered. “You said you have rooms here?”

Caleb nodded. “They are this way.”  
They were several feet from the door when Caleb stopped in his tracks. A man had just stepped outside, light armor adorning his thin frame. He had deep blue-violet skin and light hair, white with a few wisps of grey that fell just below his shoulders. He caught sight of Caleb staring and gave him a mistrusting look. They held one another’s gaze for a moment, before he walked toward them, eyes fixed on Caleb, “Who are you?”

Caleb looked at the others. “My name is Caleb Widogast. I am a member of The Mighty Nein.”

“Am I supposed to know what that means?” The man looked thoroughly unamused and Caleb could hear the nervous shuffling behind him. “What is your business here?”

“I am here with permission from Empress Leylas Kryn.” Caleb kept his voice steady and confident. “I do not mean to be rude, but is your name Theron?”

The drow looked surprised. “How do you know me?”

“If you have been reborn, do you not retain your memories from a previous life?” Theron gave him a searching look.

“You expect me to believe that the Umavi has given a human permission to pass through Xhorhas? A human with far too much information, at that.”

Caleb looked back at the others, he was sure his confusion was evident on his face. _I am certain he said that those who have been reborn keep their memories…_ “Do you not remember me? We met you in the sewers of Zadash. The Zauber Spire had fallen and you were trying to return with the beacon…”

“I have never heard of Zadash or the Zauber Spire.” The man’s intense gaze shifted to the others, “You are with this human?”

“He told us the same thing.” The small tiefling form of Scanlan stepped forward. Caleb turned quickly to look at him, but the gnome didn’t meet his gaze. “We were hoping to find someone who could corroborate his story.”

“I am telling you all the truth.” Caleb looked back at Theron, “We have earned The Bright Queen’s favor for our service to the Dynasty.”

“This is not going well.” Scanlan said suddenly. “I think he doesn’t recognize you.”

Caleb turned to him, “I know him, I met him months ago in Zadash. He was killed by the Crownsguard.”

“What did you say?” Theron’s expression had shifted from doubting to angry and Caleb took a moment to consider his options. As he reached into his pouch for his small bag of phosphorus, Scanlan took another step forward.

“You just stepped outside and saw us. We look familiar, but you can’t remember where you’ve seen us before. The human is obviously with us, and he’s not of any interest.” His voice was clear and dripped with honey as Caleb watched Theron’s eyes blink for a moment. The tension hung in the air as Caleb could feel everyone holding their breath.

Theron’s gaze refocused and he said something in a guttural language that Caleb didn’t understand. One of the others, Vex from the sound of it, responded in the same language and Theron turned, walking away from the group without a second glance.

Caleb opened his mouth, but Percy stepped forward. “Inside. We’ll talk once we’re out of the open.” Caleb nodded tersely and they followed him inside. A tavern interior greeted them and Caleb looked around quickly for any sign of the Nein. Not seeing them, he gestured toward the stairs. They hurried up toward the rooms and Caleb pulled the key from his pocket. It slid into the lock easily and he opened the door, waving them inside.

A loud barking noise made him jump as he looked into the room he’d just opened. A gnoll was in the middle of donning leather armor in the center of the room. There was no sign of any of Caleb’s things, nor of Nott or the rest of the group.

“Sorry. Wrong room.” He closed the door quickly and looked at the rest of them, a growing sense of dread pooling in his chest.

“What the fuck, Caleb?” Vex hissed. “What is happening?”

“I don’t know!” Caleb said quickly. “Yesterday morning this was my room. That man should have known me. I don’t know what’s happening.”

“Could it be that they just left town?” Pike asked.

“I need to scry again.” Keyleth said simply. “Let’s get a table downstairs. I’ll scry and if we have to we can mist again to catch up with them.”

They nodded and hurried back down the stairs, making their way to an empty table near the door.

Grog and Pike went to get a round of drinks as Keyleth pulled the orb out and began casting the spell.

The rest of them watched her intently as she sat motionless, her unseeing eyes staring straight ahead. Suddenly she gasped and came back to herself. “No fucking way.” Her eyes were wide and she looked around the room desperately.

“Keyleth! What did you see?” Vex asked, grabbing Keyleth’s arm.

“Guys, this is not good.” She sounded on the verge of tears as she looked around again. “They’re here!”

All heads turned to look at the other patrons. “What do you mean?” Pike asked.

“I mean they’re sitting in this tavern. Or in one that looks exactly like it.” She nodded toward the half-orc behind the bar, “He’s the same bar-keep. I’m almost positive. His hair was shorter, but it’s the same guy. And there aren’t as many people here. They’re sitting by the stairs.” Everyone looked at the table by the stairs. A group of goblins sat there, laughing and chatting in a language none of them understood.

Caleb shook his head, “And they were all there?”

Keyleth nodded, “The same group as last time. Orc, goblin, human, the big woman, blue tiefling girl, and the.. Firbolg?”

Caleb felt his shoulders slump. _What could this mean? Could it be another plane? Another dimension? Another-_

Caleb sat up suddenly, “What year is it?” Confused faces looked back at him before he slammed his fist onto the table, raising his voice, “What year?”

“813 P.D.” Scanlan said, his expression suddenly nervous.

Caleb felt all the air leave his lungs as the words hit him.

“ _Scheiße_.”

 

 


	2. Vax: 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long to update, I was in the process of moving. Yay. 
> 
>  
> 
> Unbeta'd.

The foreign smell of the library hit him as his sharp eyes adjusted to the dimmer light. 

“Fuck!”

Vax looked up quickly at the sound of the unfamiliar voice, Whisper already in his hand.

The woman’s face was screwed into an expression of shock and horror, “What the fuck? Caleb?” She looked him up and down with confusion in her eyes before she saw the unsheathed Vestige.  

She was out of her chair like a shot from Bad News, on her feet and clearly ready to fight. Vax rolled out of the chair quickly, flinging his daggers in quick succession as he ducked behind the table for cover. 

He heard a grunt and felt the daggers return to his belt. “I don’t want to hurt you!” he called out, “Tell me where I am and what’s going on!”

“I don’t fucking know! If you’re not Caleb, who the fuck are you?” The woman’s voice was low and sounded immensely frustrated. 

“Who’s Caleb?” Vax snuck a glance over the table to see her holding a cut on her upper arm. The wound looked superficial and she looked more agitated than injured. 

“Caleb is my friend who was sitting there one second ago!” She caught sight of him, glaring, “If you throw another fucking dagger at me…” She held a finger up in warning. 

After a moment’s thought, Vax raised both hands, standing fully so they were facing each other on opposite sides of the table. “Okay…” He looked around, “Where am I?”

“Tell me who you are first.” Vax rolled his eyes, this felt very much like arguing with Vex. 

“My name is Vax’ildan. I’m a member of Vox Machina.”

“I don’t know what any of that means.” She shrugged her shoulders and gave him another glare. 

“You asked me who I am!” Vax knew he sounded exasperated and tried to train his voice back, to a bit more diplomatic, “Now, where am I?”

“You’re in a library.” 

“Pelor’s balls you’re unhelpful.” Vax sighed, crossing his arms. 

She glared at him, “Look man, I don’t know what you want!”

“Okay.” Vax took a deep breath, “What city are we in?” He looked at her loose clothing and guessed, “Is this Marquet?”

“Marquet?” She shook her head, “We’re in Xhorhas.”

“Where is Xhorhas?” Vax tried to remember if they’d ever been anywhere called Xhorhas,  _ shit, we’ve been all over. _

“It’s east of the Empire?” The woman offered with a cocked eyebrow. 

Vax pulled the chair out and sat down, “What empire are we talking about?”

“The Dwendalian Empire!” 

The name triggered a spark of recognition as Vax’ eyes narrowed, “Is that in Wildemount?”

“Yeah?” The woman looked confused by the question and Vax couldn’t help but laugh, “aw, c’mon man! What’s so funny?”

“I was in Tal’Dorei a minute ago!” 

“No shit? Wait, so who are you? And where is Caleb?” She looked around, as if she expected this Caleb person to step out of the stacks. “Hang on.” She held up her hand, cutting Vax off before he could reply. “I’m gonna go get the others. Let’s- actually- come on, let’s go find someplace where we can talk.” 

“Wait, who are ‘the others’?” Vax asked, rising to his feet. 

“Oh, yeah, our group. We, like, travel around and solve puzzles and fight shit.” She smiled and he could see the faintest hint of a bruise on her cheekbone. 

“And Caleb was one of the members of your party?” Vax’ expression softened. The woman nodded and Vax met her gaze, “I’m sorry.” 

“Look, he’s fine, he’s just… we’re gonna figure it out.” She looked resolute, “We’re kinda fuckups in a lot of ways, but we’re actually surprisingly good at solving mysteries. We’re kind of heros of the Dynasty.” Vax smiled a bit, trying not to think about how the rest of Vox Machina must be feeling right now. “C’mon.” she jerked her head toward the door and he came around the table to walk with her.

Hanging back just a bit, Vax’s eyes flicked upward, “What the fuuuuuck?” He muttered under his breath, looking around for any sign of the porcelain mask, “Was this you?” He was met by only frustrating silence before hurrying to catch up to the woman. 

Stepping outside was a surreal experience. He’d expected to step into a bustling thoroughfare, somewhere like Emon or Ank'Harel. Instead, the doors opened onto a dark street. The sight before him was so wildly alien Vax has a hard time wrapping his mind around what he was seeing. At first he thought he might be back in the Hells. However, the small patches of grass, the serene buildings, and the general calm demeanor of the people in the streets told him otherwise.  _ And the people _ ... Vax had met a drow once before, and they’d come up on occasion in his lessons back in Syngorn. Now, everywhere he looked he saw drow. In the lightless street he saw drow couples walking together, he saw drow sitting and reading on the grass. Even several children playing a little ways further up the road. The spires and statues surrounding them rose up into the dark sky and Vax stood, unable to comprehend what he was seeing. 

“C’mon.” The woman hissed. “We’re gonna draw enough attention without you acting like you’ve never been here before!” 

“I  _ haven’t _ been here before.” Vax murmured, but allowed himself to be dragged into the street, trying not to stare as he passed the curious faces, some of whom gave them hostile looks as they caught sight of the human and half-elf moving quickly through the streets. “Should we keep out of sight?” 

She shook her head, “Nah, we’ve got permission to be here.” She pulled a small silver medallion from her pocket, “You don’t have Caleb’s, but hopefully this’ll cover both of us for now.”

Vax nodded and kept pace with her as they wound their way through the streets. They reached a tall wall and beyond Vax felt the mood in the air around him shift as the sound of music swelled in the distance. Further down the hill he could see that the buildings were no longer sweeping spires with warm glows, but rather mismatched conglomerations of what seemed to be random buildings mashed together. The inky blackness beyond sent a shiver down his spine, reminding him more of his time in The Raven Queen’s domain than anything he’d ever experienced on Exandria. Ahead of him the woman passed a group of goblins without a second glance. Vax kept close, his eyes peeled, but his daggers sheathed as they passed the strong scents of a marketplace. He watched the woman make her way toward an inn. “The Dimms Inn” was written in Common and Abyssal, as well as another language that looks vaguely familiar, but Vax couldn’t read it.    
“C’mon.” The woman gestured toward the door, holding it open for him. Vax stepped inside and looked around at the typical tavern scene before him. Most of the patrons were drow, although he saw several more goblins and there was one hyena-like humanoid who stood a good foot taller than him as it watched some drow playing a dice game. “We’ve got rooms upstairs, c’mon.” 

Vax hurried to keep up as she took the steps 2 at a time. Pulling out a key she first pounded her fist against two doors before unlocking and pushing her way into a third room.

A blue tiefling lay on the bed, her tail swishing and feet kicking behind her as she looked up from what looked like a drawing of- best Vax could tell- a drow taking a shit. “Beau!” She called out with excitement, “Who is this?”

“Sit on the bed.” The woman- Beau- instructed Vax as she stepped back out into the hallway, “Mighty Nein!” She shouted “Meeting in our room!” 

The tiefling looked Vax up and down, “Hi! Would you like a tattoo?”

Vax made his way toward the bed, looking a bit uncomfortable as he sunk down onto it, “Hi.” He cocked an eyebrow at the tiefling. “Um, I already have some… thanks?”

“I forget your name.” Beau stepped back into the room, gesturing at Vax. 

“Vax’ildan. Most people call me Vax.”

“Vax. Okay.” She nodded and took a step further in as a few more figures appeared in the doorway. First came a half-orc in well-worn leathers followed by a tall woman, taller than most humans he’d met, with very pale skin and hair that faded from black to white at the tips. A moment later another figure, even taller, ducked through the door. Vax had never seen anyone like him. “Someone better go get Nott.” Beau said, her voice more solemn than Vax had heard it. 

“Where’s Caleb?” The half-orc’s unusual drawl caught Vax by surprise, but he remained quiet as Beau spoke again. 

“Caduceus, can you go get Nott?” The tall creature nodded congenially and ducked back out the door with a smile. “Okay. Some shit has gone down.”

“Beau?” The tiefling sat up next to Vax, concern evident in her voice, “Where’s Caleb?”

“And who are you?” The tall woman spoke softly, looking at Vax. 

Vax opened his mouth to speak, but Beau held up her hand, “This is Vax. Look we need to- fuck, I don’t know. We need to wait for Nott.”

“Is Caleb okay?” The half-orc stepped forward, “Can you at least tell us that?”

“I don’t know! Okay?” Beau looked suddenly furious at herself, “I don’t know what the fuck is going on!” 

“Woah!” The tiefling jumped to her feet and rushed over to give Beau a hug. Vax was instantly reminded of Keyleth and he felt his heart sink. Vox Machina was probably having the same conversation right now. 

The large man ducked back into the room followed by a goblin and a halfling. “I didn’t know if it was okay if Yeza comes too…” He said in a serene, bassy voice. 

“What’s going on?” The goblin spoke up, taking the halfling’s hand in her own as she looked around the room. “Where’s Caleb?” 

“Okay. Caduceus, close the door.” Beau took a steadying breath, “Caleb and I were at The Conservatory, we were looking for books on dunamancy and,” she looked over at Vax, “Caleb turned the page in this book and then  _ he _ was sitting there.”

“Wait, Caleb summoned you?” The half-orc looked confused. 

“No! He was sitting where Caleb was! I don’t know! At first I thought Caleb had disguised himself, but then he pulled his daggers on me.”    
The energy in the room shifted quickly and Vax could feel the sudden hostility in the air. He quickly held his hands up in a gesture of surrender.  _ I have no idea if they actually pose any threat, but it’ll be easier to escape if they think I’m no danger to them. _

“So where is Caleb now?” The goblin’s voice was teetering between fury and terror and he watched the halfling give her a look and squeeze her hand a bit. 

“I don’t know!” Beau shouted. 

“Sorry, can I-” Vax cleared his throat, “I don’t know what happened either, I was just having breakfast with my family and then suddenly I was in a library...” 

“So maybe they just switched places!” The tiefling sat on the bed once more, “I mean, maybe this guy,” She looked at him, “What’s your name again?”

“Right, this is Vax.” Beau answered for him. 

“Maybe Vax came here and Caleb went there! You were eating breakfast with your parents?”   
Vax smiled humorlessly, “No. My sister and our friends.” 

“So maybe Caleb’s there!” The tiefling looked around at the others with a pleading expression.

“Maybe?” The half-orc looked stumped, “I’ve never heard of any sorta teleportation that swaps ya’, but Caleb’s lookin’ into new magic none of us have heard of…”

“How can we find out?” The goblin looked quickly at everyone, her large yellow eyes rapidly taking in everyone’s expressions of bewilderment and fear.

“Jester,” The large man by the door spoke up, “Could you maybe send him a message?”

“Oh! Yeah! I can cast sending!” 

Vax’ eyes widened, he’d seen Allura send messages across long distances, “Can you send a message across planes of existence?”

Beau’s voice cut through, “What? I thought you said you were from Tal’Dorei!”    
“I am.” Vax looked around, “We have a powerful spellcaster in our group and he creates this… well it’s a mansion, but it’s like a pocket dimension or something. I don’t really know how it works, but I know whenever we need to scry or anything we have to step outside because the mansion is on another plane.”

“I think it will go across planes!” The tiefling nodded, “I haven’t tried that before really, but it should work, technically.”

“Do it!” the goblin demanded. 

“Nott, let’s not be, look-” The half orc held up his hand, “we gotta make sure we plan this one! Jester, we can’t just-”

“Caleb!” Jester shouted, holding it out with a pitiful wail, “Where are you? You disappeared and then all of a sudden there was this other guy…”    
“Jester!” The half-orc groaned as he held up fingers. 

“Oh shit! Are you in… a mansion… now?” She ended with a deflated look as the half-orc hung his head with a sigh.

The room was deathly quiet for a moment. Another moment passed. Everyone stared at Jester as she looked around, eyes wide and eyebrows knit together. After about a minute she shook her head. 

“Maybe he couldn’t respond.” The large woman offered, though she seemed unable to think of a good reason. 

“Would they hurt him?” Beau asked, glaring at Vax suddenly, “If you did switch. Would your sister or whoever hurt him?”   
Vax shook his head, “I don’t think so…” he looked at the distraught goblin, “unless… well, he’s not… is he a…” He didn’t know how to ask without offending the goblin, but she glowered at him nevertheless. 

“He’s a human.” 

“Sorry.” Vax said with a sheepish look, “We’ve got one friend who really hates goblins.” 

“Join the club.” She said with a dry tone that Vax somehow suspected wasn’t entirely sarcasm. 

“But as long as he’s not a goblin or a dragon. Or a rakshasa.” He added, “Or a vampire. Or maybe this one archfey we met…” 

“Are you serious right now?” 

Vax blinked and looked at Beau, “Sorry. What I mean is, he should be fine. My sister will probably be asking him the same questions. Possibly a bit more forcefully.”

“They’ll torture him?” The goblin was practically screeching and he shook his head quickly. 

“No! We just have some… big personalities in our group. My sister is going to be really worried about me, that’s all.” 

“I’m sorry to hear that.” The big creature in the corner said. “Why don’t I make us some tea?” Vax watched him with undisguised curiosity as he ducked back out of the door once more. 

“Look, I know you are all worried about Caleb, and I’m worried about my family. We’ll figure it out, yeah?”

“Yeah.” Jester nodded, “After all, we have the best detectives in the world right here!”

“You’re right. We can find him.” The goblin nodded, “Did you bring the book?”

“What book?” Beau looked confused. 

“The book Caleb was reading when this happened! It probably caused this whole thing!”

Beau shook her head, “Caleb was saying it wasn’t really that helpful… I mean, maybe, but what if it was something else? What if it was something to do with the beacons, or The Bright Queen or something?”

Vax stopped listening as the large figure made his way back into the room, carrying what looked like a small table. He then slowly and methodically set it up in the center of the room. Despite his huge frame, he managed to cause very little disruption, almost going unnoticed by the others as he turned and left once more, this time returning with a teapot and several mismatched teacups. Vax watched his staff glow gently as the tea pot filled and steam began to rise from the spout. He recognized the soft murmur of prayer and looked closely for a holy symbol that might indicate who he worshiped. The chatter from the others continued as the tall creature gestured to one of the cups, “They’ll have some in their own time. This will help.” The creature spoke with a serene focus, as though they were the only two in the room and as though Vax hadn’t just appeared out of thin air. 

Vax looked around, but no one seemed to be paying him particular attention except the tall woman. Her eyes remained fixed on him, almost unblinking in their intensity. She said nothing, and as he slid to the ground to join the creature she didn't make any move to stop him... just continued watching him silently 

“My name is Caduceus Clay.” The creature said with a contented smile. “Drink some of this.” 

Vax gave it a sniff, unsure if this was all some elaborate plot to poison him, but he didn’t recognize the scent of any of the poisons with which he was familiar. Instead it was a warm scent, almost like something he’d expect to drink at the Winter’s Crest Festival in Whitestone. He took a sip, pleasantly surprised at the refreshing heat that spread through his chest. “I’ve never seen anyone quite like you, big guy.” He smiled up at the grey furred creature above him. 

“Yeah.” Caduceus continued to smile, nodding a bit as he took a sip, “I’ve heard that before.” He sat in silence for a moment, clearly in no particular rush to continue as he took another sip of tea, “I’m a firbolg.” 

“Firbolg?” Vax repeated, “Wow. That’s a new one to me.” 

“Yeah? That’s nice. Nice to meet you. We mostly keep to ourselves.” He said with a small good-natured shrug, “I lived in the forest. We’d tend to our plants and take care of the land.” 

“My girlfriend would like you.” Vax said with a sad smile. 

“Aw, well I’d like her too.” Caduceus replied without a moment’s hesitation and Vax couldn’t help but laugh. 

“Do you worship Melora?” Vax asked, taking another sip of his tea. 

The firbolg’s face lit up. Vax watched his ears twitch with excitement as Caduceus looked at him intently, “Yeah. Not many people around here know The Wildmother.” 

Vax smiled, “I’ve spent some time in Vasselheim.” 

Caduceus’ face lit up and his smile widened to match Vax’s. “I don’t know what that is.” His enthusiasm seemed completely undeterred by that fact and for a moment Vax worried his own amused expression might be insulting, but the large creature didn’t seem to mind that either.  

“It’s a city west of here. Quite a ways to the west, actually.” He added as he tried to visualize the maps Percival had shown him, “They call it the cradle of civilization. It’s the oldest standing city and there are different districts, different parts of town that worship different gods, and Melora is one of them.”   
“A whole town?” Caduceus seemed overwhelmed by the very thought, taking another sip to steady himself. 

“Well, a part of it. Her part of town is called The Birthheart. My family and I visited not too long ago. There is a temple there called The Abundant Terrace. It’s beautiful.” 

“Well that sounds nice.” Caduceus smiled, and Vax couldn’t help but wonder if he was seeing some sadness behind those big eyes.

“Are you from here?” Vax asked, “I’ve never seen a city quite like this.”

“No.” Caduceus shook his head, “We came here looking for Yeza. That’s Nott’s husband.” He nodded toward the halfling who looked quite out of his depth, holding the hand of the goblin and occasionally sneaking furtive glances at her. 

Vax looked up at the others, trying to pick up what they were talking about. 

“If he’s really in Tal’Dorei that’ll take weeks!”

“It can’t hurt to ask!” The half-orc seemed exasperated, rubbing his face with his hands. “I think she’d understand we’ve got a few extenuatin’ circumstances right now.” 

“It’s going to look like we’re running away.” The large woman said softly. “I don’t think she’d let us all go.”

“We’re not prisoners!” Beau said with a frown, “They  _ owe _ us, after all!”

“You heard the Shadowhand.” Jester argued, “They’re watching everything we do, it’s not like we’re totally free here.”

“Speakin’ of all that… we should probably go somewhere… or do something.”  The half-orc looked around nervously, “we’re spendin’ an awful lot of time up here holed up in one room. That might raise some suspicions. Especially if all of our medallions are in the other room.”

“Why don’t you go get the book?” The goblin nudged Beau. 

“I don’t think it was the book.” She grumbled, “But fine. Jester, you should probably come with me. If the book’s magic I’m not gonna be able to do shit!”

“Yasha do you want to come with us?” Jester said with glee, “It could be like a girls trip!”

“Except for Nott.” The tall woman looked at the goblin. 

“Sure, but she’s probably going to be  _ busyifyouknowwhatimean _ .” The tiefling’s smile widened and she gave Nott a very exaggerated wink. 

Yasha nodded uncomfortably, “Okay. I will get my things.”

“Okay, everyone out, this is our room.” Beau shooed Vax toward the half-orc. “Caleb was rooming with Fjord, so I don’t know, you figure it out!” 

Fjord looked up and met Vax’s eye, “Sure. C’mon with me.” 

Vax got to his feet, leaving the impromptu tea party and followed him into the next room and stepped inside. There were only a few scattered belongings, which the half-orc hurried to scoop up, stuffing them out of sight with a slight sense of embarrassment. 

“I’m sure Caleb wouldn’t mind you stayin’ here until we figure out what’s goin’ on.” 

“Thanks.” He looked around at the simple room before him. There was a small stack of folded clothes beside the bed, and a bit of ink and paper set on a side table, otherwise Caleb’s side of the room looked nearly untouched. Vax took a seat on the made bed and looked at the half-orc. “Did I hear right that your name is Fjord?”

He watched the other man shove a few more loose items into his pack before turning to Vax. “That’s right.”    
“Do you mind if I ask-” Vax gestured at Caleb’s almost monasterial portion of the room. He picked up the ink bottle, idly examining it. “What’s he like?”

“Who, Caleb?” Fjord set down his pack and sat on the bed opposite Vax, “Well, that’s a tough one. Caleb’s probably the most powerful of all of us, he’s got some baggage, but he has a good head on his shoulders usually.”

“What does he do?” Vax looked around, “is he a fighter?”

“He’s a wizard.”

Vax’s eyes widened.  _ I’d been picturing someone like Percy, but it sounds like he’s more along the lines of Allura, or maybe Gilmore.  _ Vax’s lip curled into a small smile at the thought of Gilmore trying to thrive in a dark place like this. “Alright! So he’s clever enough, then.” Fjord nodded quickly and Vax grinned. “We have nothing to worry about, then. Vox Machina will get him back here in no time and we’ll get this sorted and set to rights.” 

“You sound awful confident.” Fjord chuckled. 

“We’ve slain dragons, illithid, beholders… they won’t have any trouble getting here.” 

“I wouldn’t count your griffins before they hatch.” Fjord said, “Xhorhas has been pretty unpredictable… in our limited experience.” The half-orc looked at him, “You mentioned travelling with a powerful magic user? Is he a wizard like Caleb?”

Vax chuckled, “No, Scanlan isn’t particularly book-learned. More street smarts. Or… sheet smarts?” He smiled to himself, “He’s a bard.”

“Forgive me, I’ve never heard a bard called powerful in that kinda way before.” Fjord’s expression turned to one of honest curiosity and Vax couldn’t help but find it instantly endearing. 

“You’ve never met a bard quite like Scanlan.” He smiled softly, hoping the shithead was currently on his way to come get him. 

“Sorry, I don’t mean to pry, but I’m just learnin’ about all this magic stuff myself and I’m eager to hear about other folk’s experiences.”

“It’s not my specialty. I knew fuck all about magic for most of my life. I’ve learned a bit more recently.”    
“Where’d you learn? If you don’t mind me askin’?”

Vax gently traced the raven skull brooch given to him by Percy, “I’m a follower of The Raven Queen.” He saw the look of uncertainty in Fjord’s eyes, “It’s a… complicated relationship.”

“I know somethin’ about that.” Fjord muttered. Vax’s eyes widened as Fjord held his hand out, summoning a long, golden blade with a slight curve. As the blade appeared, a spray of water splattered the floor and Vax caught the unmistakable scent of seawater. “I’ve gotten a few abilities recently that I’m still learnin’ the ins and outs of.”

Vax met the half orc’s eyes once more, “That’s a new one. Is it a pocket dimension?”

“I have no idea.” Fjord shrugged. “Woke up one day and this was a thing I could do.” 

“Any idea what caused it?” 

“It’s a long story.” Fjord released the sword, but instead of falling, it vanished once more. 

“Alright.” Vax felt a wariness that he wasn’t sure what to do with, but he nodded, “So you have a cleric of Melora, a monk- I’m guessing-, you…”

“Two clerics, actually.” Fjord corrected, “Jester’s a cleric as well.” 

“Who does she worship?”

“Honestly I’m not sure. I don’t know much about religion, but she calls him The Traveller. He’s a sort of trickster god.” 

“Not The Moonweaver?” Vax offered, “We learned a bit about her in school, she’s known to be a bit tricky.” 

“I don’t think so.” Fjord shrugged, “But I suppose it’s possible. She definitely refers to him as a ‘he’, though. And we had a companion who worshiped The Moonweaver, I’m pretty sure it’s not the same god.” 

Vax nodded, “I’m hardly an expert.” 

“Same here.” Fjord held his hand up, counting on his fingers, “Two clerics, a monk, me, Caleb, Yasha- she’s the big one- and Nott.”

“The goblin.”

Fjord nodded, “That’s a complicated one as well. She’s got sticky fingers.”

Vax looked up, “A thief?” 

Fjord held his hand up, “You don’t have to worry about her-”

“I’m not too worried.” He smiled what he knew was a cocky grin. 

“How about your group?” 

“Oh, not too different. We’ve got my sister who’s a ranger, Trinket- her bear-, Grog…” 

“Her  _ bear _ ?” Fjord’s eyes were wide with surprise, “And I thought Jester’s blink dog was impractical!” 

“He’s part of the family.” Vax said with a grin, “Grog weighs more than Trinket and it’s all solid muscle.” Fjord raised an eyebrow and Vax’s grin widened, “We have our own cleric- she worships Sarenrae-, Scanlan, and Keyleth…” His voice trailed off a bit. Vax had spent most of his adult life in a state of constant fear. When he and Vex were on their own it was fear for their lives and how they would survive. Meeting the rest of Vox Machina had alleviated that a bit, and since his acceptance of The Raven Queen’s mantle he had come to find even a modicum of peace. However, thinking of Keyleth brought it all rushing back. Not only was he apart from his sister, from who he’d been nigh inseparable, but he also was far from his druid. He knew he would have to fulfill his obligation to The Raven Queen at some point, time is not on their side and yet here he is, wasting these precious moments when they should be together. 

“I’m sorry.” Fjord’s voice cut through his thoughts and Vax looked up. The half-orc was looking at him with a soft expression, no doubt his sadness had been written on his face. 

“They’ll find their way here. It’s nothing compared to what we usually have to deal with.” He shrugged and flopped back onto the bed. 

“I hope you’re right about that.” Fjord said sincerely. “I know none of us will sleep much until Caleb’s back with us.” 

A soft knock on the door broke the silence and the large woman, Yasha, stuck her head in. “Sorry. Is everything going okay?”    
Vax looked at Fjord, who nodded, “We’re just gettin’ to know one another.” 

“Okay.” She glanced between the two of them and Vax smiled at her, noticing the familiar symbol of Kord on her hip. “Normally I would ask Caleb, but do you know what time it is?”

Fjord laughed, a dry humorless laugh that sent a shiver down Vax’s spine, “I’ve got no clue.” 

Yasha nodded, “I am going with Jester and Beau to the library and then Caduceus and I are going to bed. It has been a long day.” 

“‘Night.” Vax gave a half-hearted wave as Fjord called after her. “I suppose we oughta do the same.” Fjord rose to his feet, beginning to unbuckle his armor. “Are you gonna be able to sleep? If you were just sittin’ down to breakfast…” 

Vax also stood, beginning to doff Deathwalker’s Ward as he shook his head, “I doubt I’d be able to sleep anyway.” 

“Well, if you need anythin’ just lemme know. G’night.” 

Fjord blew the candle out, plunging the room into a deeper darkness than Vax expected. The shadows in this place seemed to swallow everything whole. Vax lay awake, staring at the ceiling. Though he didn’t pretend to understand her reasoning, he felt near-certain that The Queen would visit him tonight. He listened to Fjord’s deep, even breaths as he lay on the bed that belonged to Caleb. Hours passed and still there was no sign of the porcelain mask. 

“Are you there?” His voice was barely more than a breath. 

Silence.

Vax held his breath, listening to the trembling stillness around him before he finally closed his eyes, praying silently for a sign that he hoped would come. 

 

____

  
  


Vax slept in fits and starts, shifting between restless energy and exhaustion. Several times throughout the night he got up to pace the room. He considered leaving it at one point, perhaps going downstairs to try to get a drink or two, but he remembered the emblem Beau had shown him. The last thing he wanted right now was to stir up trouble. He idly sat on the bed before finally waking up Simon and spending about an hour letting the snake slither across his shoulders and lap.

When Fjord finally woke, Vax was lying on his bed, absentmindedly throwing his daggers into the wall across the room.    
“Been up long?” The other man’s drawl wasn’t as thick first thing in the morning like Vax had anticipated. 

Vax shrugged as Whisper returned to his belt. “It wasn’t the most restful night.” Fjord nodded and Vax gave him a small smile, “Breakfast?” 

The others were all downstairs already when they’d finally dressed and made their way down to the tavern. 

“Morning, gentlemen.” Beau said as they sat down. “I think? Who the fuck knows, honestly.” Fjord grumbled something and gladly accepted the hot drink they passed him. Vax helped himself to a pastry that Jester offered and looked around the tavern. They were sitting near the stairs and Vax watched with curiosity as a group of bugbears slumped down the stairs, chatting animatedly in a language unknown to the rogue.    
“How long do you think it will take them to find us?” Nott asked. She was holding her husband’s hand and glancing at the door every few seconds. It was unnerving, to say the least. 

“Well, I’m sure Caleb’s told them where we are, so it’ll depend on how they travel. If they were going to use a tree they would’ve been here by now. They’ll probably mist it, so maybe a day?”

“I’m not gonna pretend I understood any of that,” Fjord said groggily, “but you’re sayin’ we probably have about a day before we’re gettin’ Caleb back?” 

“Half a day now. Can’t say for sure, of course, but that’s what I’d expect.” Vax shrugged and looked around at the crestfallen faces of the others. 

“Jester, do you want to try Sending again?” Beau looked hopeful and Jester’s brow furrowed. 

“What if he doesn’t answer again?” She bit her lip nervously and Vax felt a pang of guilt. He had spent half the night worried about what his family must be going through, and the other half worried about what Caleb might be going through.  _ They wouldn’t hurt him. _ He told himself,  _ emotions will be high, but they’ll listen to reason.  _ He had this nagging suspicion that something was wrong, but the last thing he wanted was to voice that and potentially lose these tenuous allies. 

“I don’t pretend to understand how all magic works, but it’s possible that your spell can’t reach him while he’s in Scanlan’s mansion. It’s another plane, but it’s a personal plane… I’m not sure if there are different rules for something like that.” Vax shrugged, meeting Jester’s eyes. “My family will take care of him.”

“They’d better.” Vax met Beau’s eyes and nodded. He could appreciate her intense loyalty to her friend. 

The next 6 hours or so passed with little fanfare. Jester taught Vax a card game that she was calling “Bright Queen’s Call”. Vax didn’t know the story behind that, but she said the name so pointedly- with deep glares at the others- that Vax didn’t question it. He lost the first few rounds, lucky that he didn’t have much in the way of gold on him to lose. 

There was no way to tell what time of day it was. The windows in the tavern let in no sunlight and the tavern’s patrons seemed to filter in and out in a steady stream with no discernable pattern. Nothing belying any of the secrets of this strange place. 

Jester finally tired of beating him and Vax watched with a strange sense of déja vu as she sat across from him, sketching furiously in her sketchbook with her tongue between her teeth. She reminded him a bit of- 

A tap on his shoulder pulled him from his reminiscing. 

“Okay, man. They should be here by now.”

Vax looked up at Beau and shrugged. “Sorry, I can’t actually make them arrive any quicker. Can any of you scry? Then we would at least know where they are.”

“Oh!” Jester grinned “I can! I had The Traveler show me that one today!”

“That’s perfect.” Fjord nodded at Jester, “that’ll put our minds at ease, at least.”

Jester sat down, setting her sketchbook aside as she began the familiar ritual. Vax held his breath as the others gathered around. Nott and Yeza held one another close as Fjord and Beau paced behind Jester unnervingly. 

Finally he watched Jester pull out a small carved symbol of a doorway before her eyes went blank, staring into nothing. No more than 30 seconds passed before she gasped, spinning around in her chair and nearly clipping Fjord with her elbow. “They’re here!”

Everyone looked in unison in the direction she was pointing. There was a table near the door that had a few empty tankards on it. As they stared, the half-orc barkeep came and gathered them up, wiping the table with a damp rag before walking back toward the kitchen. 

“What are we looking at, Jester?” Yasha asked quietly. 

“Are they invisible?” Nott was clutching her husband so tightly that Yeza’s hand was almost certainly going to have some broken bones. 

“They’re not invisible.” Caduceus said, his calm demeanor doing nothing to quell the rising panic in Vax’s throat. 

“I don’t understand. What are you saying?” 

“They… Oh no, you guys… They were sitting right there… if they’re not here… and we’re not there…” 

“What the fuck is happening?” Beau rounded on Vax, “What is going on?”

“I don’t know!” Vax couldn’t help feeling like this would be a  _ fantastic  _ time for some divine intervention. 

“You can’t scry onto different planes, right?” Fjord asked cautiously. 

“No! I don’t think so! They have to be on this plane.”

“Is The Traveller just fucking with you?” Beau asked with all the diplomacy of Grog’s nut flick. 

“No!” 

Vax looked around, they were starting to draw attention. 

“Okay, wait. Let’s think about this!” He sat back down, “You’re certain it was this tavern? It could’ve been a different location…”    
“I’m totally sure. The guy behind the bar is even the same guy! Except-” Jester hesitated as the half-orc walked leisurely back into the room, busying himself behind the counter, “Except that his hair was kind of longer.” 

“Longer?” Nott sounded as confused as Vax felt and he couldn’t help but wish Percy or Pike were here to help them think this through. 

“Um…” A small, timid voice cut through their panic as every face turned to look at Yeza. “I don’t know a lot about the kind of magic they use here, but our experiments back in Felderwin had something to do with time…” 

His words hung in the air like a beholder, fixing its gaze on each one of them in turn before Jester finally looked at Vax, “What month is it?”

“Misuthar” Vax didn’t dare breathe, 

“Misuthar isn’t for another few days, right?” Beau asked, locking eyes with Fjord, “Not like we can really tell what day it is here…”

“So we’re… a week behind you?” Yasha’s brow was furrowed and Caduceus leaned forward before Vax could answer. 

“Out of curiosity… what year is it?”

“813 PD.” 

 

“Vax, that was-” Fjord cleared his throat, his voice seemed to be the only sound in the room. “That was 23 years ago…”

  
  
  


  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Even though I'm more familiar with writing the M9, I found this chapter way harder!  
> Hope you enjoyed! I'll try to update this quicker.


	3. Caleb: 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unbeta'd

_ Sechs Jahre. _

Caleb returned to the rest of the group with two keys. “They had two rooms available. I thought it would be too suspicious if such a large group requested only one room.” 

Vex snatched one of the keys from his hand and stormed toward the stairs. Caleb pocketed The Bright Queen’s medallion and followed after the furious half-elf. Behind him he could hear the soft footfalls of the others also ascending the stairs. 

“I don’t understand... isn’t there anything-” Keyleth fell silent and Caleb glanced back to see Pike gently holding her hand. Caleb tried not to look at the sadness in Keyleth’s eyes as he turned his eyes back to the stairs in front of him. 

“We’ll get him back, Kiki.” Percy said with a soft conviction before hurrying to catch up with Vex. 

_ Sechs Jahre. _

At the top of the stairs Caleb found their second room and quickly unlocked the door, holding it open so the others could come in. Scanlan paused in the doorway, looking down the hall. 

“Shouldn’t we get Vex and Percy for this?”

“Percy will bring her.” Pike said gently, guiding Keyleth to the bed. “Let’s give them a moment.” 

_ Sechs Jahre. _

“So if Vax is in the future-” Grog began, but Caleb caught Scanlan glancing at Keyleth’s distraught expression before- 

“Hey, Grog!” 

“Yeah?” 

“I’ve been eyeing your firebrand warhammer for a while now. D’you think I could hold it for a bit?”

“Wha’?” Caleb watched as the small gnome sidled up next to the hulking goliath, “I mean, I know m’buddy Pike could lift it, but it’s a little big for you, Scanlan. Are you sure?”

Scanlan cracked his knuckles ostentatiously, “Absolutely.”

Even Keyleth cracked a smile as the gnome was immediately pinned beneath the massive warhammer. 

“Okay, Grog!” The bard’s voice was strained as he struggled against the huge weight on his chest, “Get it off me.”

“I ‘fought you wanted to see it?”

“I’ve seen it. I’m good.” Scanlan croaked.    
_ Sechs Jahre. _

Caleb was paying them almost no attention. It wasn’t until the door creaked open and Percy stepped in, followed by Vex, that he finally felt himself focus once more. 

“Right.” Percy said. “We need to figure out a plan.”

“If Caleb is telling the truth,” Vex began, not sparing a glance for the wizard, “Vax is somehow 22 years in the future. We have to figure out how they got switched in the first place, so that we can undo what’s been done.”

“But Caleb says he has no idea what happened to cause this. And we couldn’t come up with anything when we were trying to figure it out.” Keyleth said softly. 

“I could maybe ask Sarenrae.” Pike offered. 

“Oh!” Vex snapped to attention, “Someone should ask The Raven Queen!” She turned to the white haired man beside her, “Percy, you’ve talked to her right? You’ve been to her temple?” 

“Yes.”

“Why don’t you ask her?” Vex’s eyes sparkled with the beginnings of tears and Caleb noticed that the other human looked deeply uncomfortable. 

“The last time we spoke she told me I was broken… I’m not sure how much sway I have…”

“But that’s just it! You don’t need any sway! He’s her champion! She should already be willing to help us get him back! She has skin in the game!”

“I suppose I could try, but when I spoke to her… I mean, it was inside her temple… I’m not sure if she’ll listen to me if I’m just… me.” 

“I can help you if you want, Percy.” Pike gave him an earnest look, entirely bereft of judgement. “We can pray together.” 

Percy swallowed audibly, but nodded, first at Pike and then at Vex. 

“Thank you, darling.” Vex’s voice was barely a whisper. 

“So we’ll ask some gods, what else can we try?” Scanlan said matter-of-factly. “Do we know anyone here who could maybe help us?”

All eyes turned to Caleb, who only barely resisted the urge to shrink back in the corner. “Erm- Well, I suppose the clear choice would be The Bright Queen herself, but we are in a tricky spot because she does not know who I am yet… and this time I have no leverage to offer her.”

“Can you fill us in? Who is she?” Keyleth looked at him anxiously and Caleb nodded, giving them his best abbreviated version of their relationship with Empress Leylas Kryn. 

“So without the Beacon…” 

“But you have her medallion thing that you keep flashing around.” Vex gave him an appraising look. “Surely that should be enough to get us an audience with her at the very least!” 

“It might give us an audience, but I cannot guarantee that it will not get us thrown into prison.” Caleb shook his head with an air of helplessness and looked at the others, “I’m not sure what your capabilities are, but even 22 years ago, the Empress is over 1,200 years old. She is more powerful than I can imagine, and she surrounds herself with equally formidable forces.”

“She still bleeds, though, I bet.” Grog muttered and Pike turned to give him a stern look. 

“Grog! We don’t want to hurt her. We just want to talk to her. She might be able to help us get Vax back, right Caleb?”   
Caleb nodded, “Or might know of someone who can.” 

“Right,” Vex nodded, “Let’s go, then.” 

“Right now?” Keyleth sounded nervous and Caleb snuck a look at her to see her hastily wiping away a tear.    
“Ja.” Caleb nodded, “Perhaps we should consider other options. This could go terribly wrong and we should probably have exhausted our other options…”

“And what, precisely, are our other options?” Vex asked, rounding on him. “Is there another option that you’ve failed to mention?”

_ Sechs Jahre. _

“Nein, but you will not get your brother back if we are all thrown into The Dungeon of Penance.” 

“Is that a brothel?” Scanlan was clearly joking, but Caleb didn’t laugh, looking at the gnome with an unamused expression. 

“It is the prison beneath the Lucid Bastion.”

“Alright, let’s all take a moment. What are our other options?” Percy wrapped his arm around Vex’s waist and looked at the others one at at time. 

“I have met a few people in this city who might be willing to help us if we approach them individually. We should perhaps try speaking to them before we bring out the cannons.” 

“Alright, who are these people?”

“The first is a professor who is a sort of engineer for the Kryn Dynasty.” Caleb saw several of the members of Vox Machina glance meaningfully at Percy, “She is an interesting person, and wary of helping outsiders.”   
“She’s our first choice?” Pike asked, uncertainly. 

“She is probably our first choice, ja.” Caleb nodded. 

“Who else?” Vex pressed. 

Caleb paused, “We should start with her. The other is very connected to The Bright Queen. He might not be a good option.” 

“What was this professor’s name?” Percy asked. 

“Professor Waccoh.”

Grog chuckled and shared a look with Scanlan. 

“Ja, she is not that funny in person… Well, she is a bit funny… but… she is unique.”

“Well, I think this professor sounds promising!” Percy sounded reinvigorated and took a step forward. “Why don’t I go with you? We should probably avoid all travelling together in a large group, don’t you think?”

“No!” Keyleth jumped to her feet, “We can’t split up!” 

“Scanlan, can’t you do Seeming or somefhing? I don’t fink we should split up...” Grog sounded almost nervous and Caleb couldn’t help but give the huge man a long look. 

“Sure. I could do that.” Scanlan shrugged, unbothered and clearly uninterested in making the final decision. 

“Perhaps those who are attempting to speak to gods should stay here, ja?” Caleb suggested, trying to keep his voice even and unconcerned. “Unless that doesn’t require concentration…”

“He’s probably right.” Pike spoke up, “Percy, you should stay with me. We can reach out to Sarenrae and then The Raven Queen. Maybe they’ll be able to guide us.”

“Fantastic.” Percy sounded deflated and Caleb couldn’t help but wonder what kind of animosity this man held toward religion that the mere idea of talking to a god would bring him this much discomfort. “Vex, do you want to stay with me and Pike?” Caleb met Percy’s eyes as the white-haired man snuck a glance in his direction. “You needn’t feel pressured to go with them. After all, you’ve spoken to The Raven Queen as well.” 

“Not really!” Vex sounded almost frightened, a strange change from the confident woman who had first threatened Caleb. “I mean, I have, but he was dead! I had no choice.” 

“I’m not really sure that matters.” Percy said with a small shrug. “If you don’t want to stay, we certainly won’t force you, but she might listen to you more readily than she’d listen to me.”

After a moment’s pause Vex nodded and Percy gave Caleb a small nod as well.  _ At least that’s one less person to worry about. _

“So Keyleth, Grog, Scanlan and Caleb will go see Professor Waccoh?”

“Do you want me to make us tieflings again?” Scanlan asked, looking primarily to Keyleth for an answer.    
“Should we be drow? Would that be less obvious? I haven’t seen a bunch of tieflings…” She looked at Caleb nervously and he nodded. 

“Ja, the drow are much more common. I should probably remain undisguised, though.” 

“This Waccoh’s never met you though, right?” Scanlan clarified, “Will it make any difference if she recognizes you?”

“It will make a difference when we ask questions that should be common knowledge for Xhorhassians.” Caleb said with a nod.  _ Of that much he was certain. _ “Do we all need to be the same type of creature? One massive drow and one small drow will draw just as much attention as your regular forms, I would imagine.” Caleb looked between Grog and Scanlan and the gnome shrugged. 

“Nope, I can do whatever we want.” He looked at Keyleth- “I could just make you a drow version of yourself, I could be…” He looked around the tavern, pointedly ignoring the goblin in the corner who was tearing into a plate of meat. “I’ll just be a little boy drow.”

“My son!” Keyleth chuckled. 

“Sure, mommy.” He batted his eyes at her and immediately the rest of them groaned. “Grog what do you want to be? How about if I make you look like Kern?”

“Oh! That’s a good one!” he nodded, looking surprisingly thoughtful. 

“Okay!” Scanlan turned to the others, “Do you want me to do you, too? Even though you’re staying?” 

“It could be helpful if we want to go outside or anything before they get back…” Pike said slowly. 

“Sure, why not, Scanlan.” Vex nodded and Scanlan began to cast. A few moments later Caleb watched as their now-familiar forms shifted into that of a hulking half-orc, far more orcish than Fjord, and three adult and two child-like drow. 

“Excellent.” Percy ran a hand through his hair and Caleb couldn’t help but catch the slight, entirely coincidental similarity to Essek. Swallowing hard, Caleb looked toward the door. 

_ Sechs Jahre. _

 

___

 

Caleb was trying not to tremble as they approached the Marble Tomes Conservatory. The others were predictably tense, on edge since they’d left the Gallimaufry district. Now, in the heart of the Firmaments, he occasionally caught sight of Grog and Scanlan sharing nervous glances and picking up their pace. 

As they approached the steps leading up to the entrance to the Conservatory Caleb shot a glance at Scanlan, “I understand you are the talker of the group?”

Scanlan smiled, and then glanced first to Keyleth and then to Grog, “In this group I am  _ absolutely _ the talker.”

“Ja, do you not think it will seem strange that a small child is speaking on behalf of the adults?”

“Shit.” Grog grunted. 

“Yeah, we should’ve thought of that…” Keyleth muttered softly. 

“I am not saying it’s an insurmountable problem, only that it will seem unusual, yes?”

Scanlan nodded, “I’ll come up with something.”

Keyleth smiled and Caleb could see just how thin her veneer of control was at this moment, “he always does.” 

“I do not doubt it.” Caleb looked around, keeping an eye open for any sign of Aurora Watch. “For now I will do the talking, I am hopeful that I will be able to appeal to her curiosity.”

With no guards in sight, Caleb pulled open the beautiful heavy stone doors and led them inside. 

In the center of the room once more sat a drow woman, muscular and beautiful. She watched them step into the room with a trained expression. He watched with interest as the others took in the beautiful, warm interior. Scanlan was staring practically straight up, looking at the high ceilings. Grog was eyeing the central desk with undisguised hostility, looking ready to attack at a moment’s notice. Keyleth, meanwhile, seemed entirely unaware of the presence of another person in the room as she gazed, transfixed, at the warm green chandelier. 

_ “May I help you?”  _ The others started, looking around wildly as the drow’s voice pierced their minds and Caleb felt his heart sink. He knew he should have warned them about that.

Stepping forward, he held up his hands, “Ja, good afternoon. My name is Caleb Widogast. I am here with the blessing of the Umavi,” he held up his medallion once more, “We would like to speak with Professor Waccoh if she is available. She is not expecting us, but it is of great importance.”

The woman behind the desk crooked her finger and Caleb took another few steps forward, hoping he appeared more confident than he felt.  _ “You say the Umavi sent you?” _

“She did not send us here specifically, but we have heard of Professor Waccoh and the Bright Queen indicated that we might be able to find some answers here at this magnificent place.” The excitement seeping into his voice was entirely real and Caleb found he couldn’t help but shiver with excitement at the prospect of perhaps getting a closer look at the dunamantic books denied to him on their last visit. 

The woman’s eyes shifted from Caleb’s to look behind him and he heard light footsteps before Scanlan’s voice rung out, seemingly in response to an unheard question, “My mother has taken a vow of silence. We hail from further north, this is our first time here in the city, but we have been travelling with this human for several weeks now and can attest that he is indeed here at the Queen’s behest.”

Caleb held his breath as the woman continued to gaze past him. When the woman spoke aloud it was almost more unsettling than the voice inside his mind. “I am afraid you have been misinformed.” Her voice was soft, but the tone left no room for misinterpretation, “We do not have anyone named ‘Waccoh’ here, professor or otherwise. Perhaps you should return to The Lucid Bastion and seek further counsel.”

Caleb felt his heart sink,  _ 22 years… she is not drow, of course she probably has not worked in the same place that long.  _ “I am sorry to have disturbed you. Hopefully we will return once we have spoken to the Empress.”

  
Back on the street the others turned to him, but Caleb knew there was nothing for it. “I had hoped she would be here already, but it seems she is not yet in the Dynasty’s employ.”

“So is that it?” Keyleth’s eyes swam with tears that threatened to spill down her deep purple cheeks. 

“You said there was somebody else we could talk to?” Grog was looking around, “maybe someplace with no books?”

“Should we go back and regroup with the others?” Scanlan offered. 

“Ja, maybe you should go back to check on them, I can go on my own to try the other lead.” As soon as the words had left his lips, Caleb knew he’d made a mistake. Keyleth’s eyes snapped to his and Grog turned slowly to face him. 

“Are you tryin’ to get rid of us?” The giant orcish figure loomed over him and Caleb lowered his eyes in what he hoped would be a suitably submissive gesture. 

“Nein- I was only suggesting that you meet me there once you’ve spoken with the others. If you would like to come you certainly can, although we may very well hit the same kind of dead end.”

Keyleth’s eyes narrowed, “Who is this other person you want to talk to?”

“He is merely a man who works for the Bright Queen.” Caleb kept his voice even,  _ I have to talk to Essek alone. I have to explain the situation.  _

“Take us to him.” Scanlan said firmly, “Let’s all go. Right now.” 

_ Scheiße _ , “I do not know where he is now, we will have to ask around a bit.”

“Lead the way.” Keyleth’s conviction was clear in her voice. He’d fucked up. 

Caleb nodded, knowing there was nothing for it now. “Ja, okay… Let’s go find him.”

They wandered through the Firmaments without any real direction at first. Caleb wasn’t sure whether it would be wiser to look for him within the Lucid Bastion, or perhaps asking around The Aurora Watch. Eventually he led them toward the steep hill in the center of Rosohna, climbing slowly toward the Lucid Bastion. As they approached the wall, several Aurora Watch stepped forward, hands extended, “Halt! What business do you have?”

“Hail,” Caleb held the medallion in front of himself, “I have business with Essek Thelyss. Where can I find him?”

One of the guards stepped forward, taking the medallion in her hand and examining it closely. “What business with Essek?”

“I’m afraid this is between Essek, the Queen, and ourselves.” 

The drow exchanged glances, looking over the 3 figures standing behind Caleb. The human didn’t dare breathe as the two guards shared a meaningful look before turning back, handing the medallion back to Caleb with a sigh, “Essek is probably in the Conservatory. Although I haven’t seen him today.” 

Caleb exhaled slowly, “Danke. We will try there.”

He pocketed the medallion once more and turned to walk past the others back in the direction from which they’d come. 

“So he’s back where we just were?” Scanlan hissed. 

“Apparently.” Caleb quickened his pace a bit, hearing the others match his step. 

“Why did you think he’d be at the palace?” Keyleth asked. Her voice wasn’t overly suspicious, but she was clearly more guarded than she had been previously. 

“In my time he works there, that’s where I met him. But he’s young...ish… for a drow. So I am not surprised that he might not hold the same position yet.”

“Will he still be able to help us?” Grog asked. 

“ _ Hoffentlich _ .” Caleb muttered, guiding them once more toward the large conservatory. 

___

“Hallo, we have returned.” Caleb bowed politely to the woman behind the desk once more, “We inquired at the Lucid Bastion and have been directed to a Mr. Essek Thelyss.”

“ _ Now Essek I do know.”  _ The woman nodded, “ _ I cannot send you to him, however. At least not unaccompanied.”  _

Caleb nodded, he’d expected that much. “We are happy to wait for him to meet us, or if any Aurora Watch would be able to escort us…?”

She nodded, closing her eyes for a moment and whispering under her breath. After several seconds she opened her eyes,  _ “He will be out in a few moments to meet you.” _

“Thank you so much.” Caleb said with another bow. 

Turning back to the others he gave them a nod, “He will be out shortly. He is… Well, he works with a type of magic with which I am not terribly familiar.”

“Is he dangerous?” Keyleth asked under her breath. 

“Everyone here is dangerous.” Scanlan and Caleb spoke the words in unison, exchanging a glance before they heard a door open. 

Caleb turned slowly, meeting Essek’s eye as the drow glided into the room. 

“Hello there, I have been informed that you have asked to see me?”

Essek looked almost exactly the same, though he wore his hair a bit longer. Caleb stepped forward, nodding in a slight bow as he cleared his throat. “Good evening, Shadowhand.” 

“Shadowhand?” Essek’s lips curled into a small smile, “I’m afraid you have been misinformed. I serve at the pleasure of The Bright Queen, although in no official capacity.” His dark eyes gave Caleb a searching look, “But come, join me in my office.”

He nodded at Caleb, eyes glancing over the others before turning to the woman at the desk. They shared a moment, no doubt conversing wordlessly, “Come.” He said once more, turning back to the group. There was a hint of a smile in his voice although it did little to color the foreboding nature of his tone. Quickly glancing at Scanlan, Grog, and Keyleth, Caleb followed behind Essek. 

The drow led them down a short hallway before gesturing toward a small room. There were bookshelves lining every wall and a small, but serviceable desk in the center of the room. 

Essek conjured several chairs out of the air, placing them across the desk from his own. “Now, none of you are familiar to me, and the sight of a human is a very rare thing indeed here in Rosohna. Somehow even more unlikely still, you called me Shadowhand, a promotion that is not yet public knowledge beyond the Bright Queen’s inner circles.” His deep violet eyes scrutinized Caleb before turning toward the others. “So let us do away with our illusions.” He waved a hand absently and dispelled the illusions easily. “And why don’t we start with who you are?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading and for your comments and kudos!! I love you all!


	4. Vax: 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vax knows he has to get home, but what does that mean?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took forever to write, apparently writing fics with time travel=existential crisis. :)  
> Now that I've sorted out that madness I should be able to update more regularly.  
> Unbeta'd as usual.

The murmur of voices around them was drowned out by the _thuthum thuthum_ of Vax’s heart pounding in his ears. 

_23 years…. And I just vanished._

Vax dropped his head into his hands, his elbows resting on the table as he tried to force his thoughts into some kind of cohesion. 

“Vax?” He started at the sudden hand on his shoulder, feeling the world come rushing back in as Fjord looked down at him with a sympathetic expression. “Y’alright?” 

“I have no idea.” Vax’s voice was a bit higher than he’d meant and even he could hear the hint of mania in his words. “I have no idea what’s happening, or where my family is, or if it’s even possible for me to get back.” He looked around at the others- taking in Jester’s expression of horror, Beau’s frustration, Nott’s pale fist as she clutched onto Yeza, Yasha’s uncertainty...even Caduceus looked concerned. “I haven’t heard a peep from my goddess since this happened, so I’m not even sure this is real…”

“It’s fucking real.” Beau muttered, sounding utterly defeated. “It’s real and Caleb is who-knows-where, or -when!”

“Do we still think they could have switched?” Yeza asked softly. “I mean, at the very least we might be able to find Caleb now? Just… 23 years older?”

“You mean if he went back in time when Vax came here?… Knowing Caleb…” Fjord looked at the others, “I mean, if that’s how this worked he probably would’ve been waiting for us here. He’d know when this all happened… would happen…”

“Woah.” Jester muttered to herself, eyes wide as she tried to wrap her head around these abstract concepts. 

“I agree.” Beau nodded, “I think there’s just one of each of them. Caleb would’ve gotten word to us before now. He would’ve warned us that this was going to happen.” 

“What if he couldn’t?” Yasha asked softly. 

“I need to see my family.” Vax said firmly, rising from the table. “If he _is_ just 23 years older somewhere he might still be with them. And they’ll think that I just vanished... They might’ve figured it out like we did, but I’m with Fjord; if they knew that I’d pop into this timeline 23 years into their future, they would’ve been waiting here for me. Nothing would’ve kept them from that. I don’t know… The Raven Queen holds dominion over fate. She says that some people’s destinies can be altered, that those people are few and far between, but that their path can shift. Maybe Caleb is Fate-Touched as well.”

“So the future that you were supposed to have…” Yasha looked at him, “it just vanished?” 

“I have no idea. I don’t know how any of this works. But maybe things are more complicated than we initially thought.” Vax looked around at the others. “I have to go to Whitestone. My sister will be there. My family should be there.” 

“Whitestone?” Fjord looked at the others with a blank expression. 

“It’s in Tal’Dorei. South of here.” 

“Do you think we could ask Essek for help getting there?” Nott asked nervously, “Otherwise it’ll take months to get there!”

“Who’s Essek?” Vax looked around at the others. 

“He works for the Bright Queen here in Xhorhas.” Fjord explained, “I reckon that’s our best option at this point. Jester, can you send him a message?” 

Jester’s face brightened, “Okay! Essek-”

“Wait! Let’s- oh gods, okay. Nevermind.”

“Oh, um, we’re trying to get to a place south of here, it’s not in Xhorhas and we need to get there fast. Help?” 

They all watched her as she furrowed her brow, listening intently. “He seemed kinda grumpy, but he said he could maybe help us, but wants to know why we’re leaving the Dynasty so soon.”

“We shouldn’t tell him about Caleb.” Beau said firmly. “We don’t know what happened. For all we know it could have been something the Bright Queen planned somehow.”

“If she did, then he’s probably in on it and would already know.” Nott pointed out. 

“But if it’s somehow related to the Empire- I have no idea. It could just be totally random, or have some other reason entirely, but…”   
“No, I think Beau’s right.” Yasha nodded, “It looks suspicious and it makes it look like we aren’t in control.”

“There’s a reason it looks like that…” Nott mumbled, but the others ignored her.

“Won’t he notice that Caleb isn’t with you?” Vax asked, cocking an eyebrow. 

“Not if he is.” Fjord looked at Vax pointedly. “What if we could figure out how to disguise you to look like Caleb.”

“You don’t think he’ll see right through that?” Beau shook her head. 

“I think it’s worth a try.” Fjord shrugged, “I think if we go vanishin’ off to Tal’Dorei without Caleb, and we take this guy instead, that’ll bring up too many questions.”

“Can any of us actually disguise other people?” Nott looked around at the others, “I know Caleb and Fjord and Jester can disguise themselves… but others?”

“I can disguise myself, too.” Caduceus said amicably to himself. 

“Caleb can do it!” Beau’s face curled into a grin and she slapped Nott a bit harder than necessary on the back.   
“Ow. What the fuck? Also- I just said that and that’s not helpful, because he’s not here!”

“Vax, how good are you at voices?”

“Um… I’m okay?” he shrugged and watched the realization dawn on Nott’s face. “Wait- you want me to pretend to be Caleb… in disguise… as me?”

“It’s perfect! Essek doesn’t need to know it’s not him, as long as you keep quiet and don’t do anything out of character.” Beau looked around the others for support. Jester was nodding excitedly and Fjord had a small smile on his face. 

“I can go over the accent with ya.” Fjord offered.   
“Fjord is very good with accents.” Jester winked at the half-orc and Vax thought he caught a slight embarrassment as Fjord looked away hurriedly. 

“Shit, this seems complicated.” Vax mumbled, “but I’ve done stupider shit. Okay.” He nodded up at Fjord and the half-orc grinned.

While the others made plans to meet with Essek, Vax and Fjord sat alone at a small table in the corner where Fjord walked Vax through the basics of Caleb’s voice and mannerisms. “He speaks well when he does say something, he’s smart. Way smarter than any of us.”

“Well that doesn’t bode well.” Vax said with a crooked grin. 

“You’ll do jus’ fine!” Fjord grinned. “Just practice that sentence and we’ll be good.”

 

***

 

“Interesting.” Essek’s voice was measured and sounded faintly amused.

“Yeah,” Fjord replied with a lazy shrug, “Caleb’s not exactly welcome in some parts of the world.”

Vax met Essek’s eyes briefly before hurriedly looking away, “ja, I do not want to endanger the group needlessly.” 

“I thought Jester said you need to go to Tal’Dorei?” Essek cocked an eyebrow, “are you wanted in Tal’Dorei as well?”

“Nein, but it is better safe than sorry. Northern Tal’Dorei has some limited communication with parts of the Empire.” His Zemnian accent wasn’t bad. Vax could feel Fjord’s slight smile as he shrugged his shoulders, once again meeting Essek’s eyes briefly. 

“Whatever you say.” Essek looked at the others one by one, “so are you ready to depart? I have never been to this _Whitestone_ , so I will do my best.”

“That is all we can ask.” Vax said with a terse nod. 

“I am going to want to talk to you, Caleb, when you return.” Essek said casually, “we still have much to discuss.” 

“Yes- ja, of course.”

Out of the corner of his eye Vax saw Yasha and Nott exchange a nervous glance. 

“To Whitestone!” Jester cheered, slipping her arm around Vax and Fjord’s waists and pulling them tight to her with a surprising amount of strength. 

***

Vax remembered when they were using the teleportation sigils what feels like a lifetime ago, but with most of their travel recently being via tree or plane shift, he felt instantly nauseous as they were yanked from one place to another. 

“Are you staying with us, Essek?” Jester asked excitedly. Vax had to hand it to her, if he hadn’t heard her and Fjord rehearsing this bit he would never have known the pair wasn’t being genuine.

“Now Jes, Essek probably has important things that we’ve already pulled him away from.”

Jester’s pout was convincing and Essek smiled, “Perhaps next time.” He nodded at each of them in turn, his eyes seeming to linger a bit longer on Vax. “Do return to the Dynasty soon. I vouched for you, after all.”

“We will.” Nott insisted, looking anxiously morose. They’d all agreed that Yeza should stay in Xhorhas, since they had no idea what trouble they’d encounter in Tal’Dorei- and now without Caleb _or_ Yeza Nott looked positively miserable. 

Essek gave them a small bow and turned back, vanishing on the spot as everyone else took the opportunity to look around. 

“So, what? Does this look right, Vax?” Beau asked, shivering a bit in the brisk Whitestone air. 

Vax felt tears in his eyes as he looked up the large hill in the distance toward Whitestone Castle. Between here and there he saw the nearly bare branches of the Sun Tree stretching into the sky. “Yeah. This is it.”

Unsurprisingly, knowing Percival as he did, Whitestone had flourished in the years that had apparently passed. While the Sun Tree still remained an impressive focal point in town, the city had grown appreciably. At the front of the castle stood a large clocktower that was undoubtedly Percival’s handiwork. It was magnificent, even at this distance and Vax once again felt tears prickling his eyes as he smiled at the ingenuity of the underfed boy they’d found in that dungeon all those years ago. 

A gasp from Jester pulled his attention to the southern edge of Whitestone where a large platform had been built- much like the ones in Emon, although with that special Whitestone flair- and where a massive airship was tethered. Vax grinned as Jester told the others about a time she’d seen a Skyship years ago. _Percival finally got his skyship._

 

It took them about half an hour to reach the town proper as Essek had set them down just beyond the edge of the Parchwood. As they walked, Vax gave them the same rundown of Vox Machina’s members as he’d given Fjord the night before. 

“Is Trinket with her all the time?” Jester squealed in delight, clearly thrilled that she might get to pet a bear. 

“Always.” Vax smiled. 

“And do any of them worship gods besides Pike?” Caduceus’ bassy voice chimed in. 

“Which gods are approved for worship here?” Yasha added softly. 

“I mean, I don’t think many people are out here worshiping Tharzidun,” Vax said, “there aren’t any restrictions, though.” He pointed toward the Sun Tree as they got closer, “Pelor has a strong presence in Whitestone, and there are temples to Erathis, Sarenrae and my Lady. There might be more now…” he realized. “Oh, and I guess technically Ioun.” He looked around, “I don’t see any sign of massive destruction, so they probably managed to fight Vecna on their own.” 

“Who’s Vecna?” Jester asked with a raised eyebrow. 

“Far too much to explain on my own, but if you haven’t heard of him that’s a great sign.”

“Where are we going, exactly?” Fjord asked as they began to make their way out of town once more, headed up the slope toward the castle. 

“That’s Whitestone Castle. Percival lives there, or at least he did. Vex got her own place in town, so they might both live there… I’m not really sure. But either they’ll be there or Cassandra will be able to help us find them.”

“What if they aren’t- I mean,” Yasha looked contemplative as they walked for a moment before continuing, “Will you be alright if they aren’t all here? If some of them have-” 

“ _Oh sweet Pelor_ ” 

The voice was familiar and Vax spun on his heels to meet the eyes of the middle aged human. 

Percival de Rolo’s face had gone ghostly white, which combined with his stark white hair gave him an overall quite ghoulish appearance. 

“No.” Percival took an aborted step forward, thinking better of it and somehow managing to step backward instead. “No, no. no.”

“Freddie!” Vax rushed forward arms outstretched, but before he could make it to Percy, Beau caught him by the shoulder. 

“Give him a second, Vax.” she muttered. Vax looked at her angrily before noticing how intensely she was watching Percy. He looked back to the Lord of Whitestone and took a moment to fully appreciate the sight of the man before him. 

In all their years travelling with Vox Machina, especially since he’d made his deal with The Raven Queen, it never occurred to him that he’d have this opportunity- to see Percival live to a ripe old age. He noticed for the first time that there was no sign of a weapon on Percy’s person. _Unsurprising, really,_ he thought _, he’s hardly in constant danger any more._

“Hello, Percy.” He said softly, smiling at the man who was gaping at him like a fish, shaking his head. 

“I don’t know what’s going on, but we need to get inside.” Percy looked quickly toward the castle and then toward the village and finally gestured toward the clocktower, “Quickly.” 

The rest of the group looked at one another with uncertainty, but they all followed as Percy broke into a jog, hurriedly ushering them all through a small access door in the back. 

Inside there was a spiral staircase running up the center and cogs and mechanisms illuminated surreally by the multicolored sunlight filtered through the many panes of glass and elaborate clockwork that stretched up the tower. There were scattered tools lying about and Vax could tell immediately that this was a place where Percy came to think. 

 

Percival closed the door behind Nott who slipped in last, her eyes wide as she took in the many parts that made up the clock tower. He quietly latched the door and made his way around the staircase, stopping near a small box which he opened cautiously. “Who are you?” 

Vax wasn’t surprised when he pulled Retort from the box, it looked well maintained and Vax nodded, holding his hands up a bit. 

“I don’t really understand it either.” He said with a shrug. “I was with you all, eating breakfast in Scanlan’s mansion when I suddenly… wasn’t. I was in a library in a place called Xhorhas in Wildemount.” He saw no skepticism in Percy’s eyes, just a familiar, steady caution. “Beau-” he gestured toward the human, who looked more than a little on edge, “was there with their friend Caleb. As best we can tell, he and I somehow switched places…” 

“How do I know you’re telling the truth?” Percival asked, his voice was cool and even and Vax saw Fjord and Jester exchange a nervous glance. 

“I can tell you about where you got that gun, about Anna Ripley. I can tell you about the time we all disguised ourselves as you and Cass to go down beneath the castle to find the Briarwoods… Or about Keyleth’s Aramenté…” He shrugged, “You tell me, Freddie. What can I do to prove it to you?”

Percival stood stock still for nearly a minute, the gun still trained on Vax as he thought, “What did my letter say to you?”

“Your letter?” Vax cocked an eyebrow- “I didn’t know you knew we’d-” 

“You’re all terrible people, of course you read it.”

Vax paused for a moment, meeting Percy’s eyes with a meaningful look. “You told me I remind you of yourself.”

“Still do.” Percy sighed heavily before slowly lowering Retort, wrapping the firearm once more in a small cloth and returning it to the box. “This complicates things.” 

“What happened on your end? Did I just vanish?” Vax asked. 

“Have you met Caleb?” Jester asked eagerly. 

Percival shook his head. “Yes. We met him.” He sighed as he looked around at the eager faces before him. “I’m afraid our brief time with him doesn’t have a particularly happy ending.”

“What do you mean?” Vax held out his hand as Beau took a step forward. 

“I mean, Caleb appeared, Vax vanished. We followed his instructions, went to Wildemount, inquired around there for a bit… it was… well, those were the good days. Caleb didn’t stay with us for long. We had to return to Tal’Dorei. We had to stop Vecna, we still had things to do.” Percy sounded apologetic, but there was something else behind his words, an anger.

“So you just left him?” Beau accused, her eyes gleaming with fury. 

“He left _us_ !” Percy countered, “He nearly got us killed, and then he disappeared, along with any hope of finding Vax again.” He glared at Beau, “We tried to help him, but he didn’t seem to care about Vecna, or about the end of the world. He just wanted to deal with his own problems. And then instead of coming to some sort of compromise, he left us without so much as a goodbye. After we fought Vecna we looked for him. Vex spent _years_ looking for him, looking for anything that might give us a clue where you went or how we could get you back.” 

“You have no idea what happened to him?” Nott’s voice was edging on hysterical and Fjord gently put a hand on her shoulder, “What if he’s dead?”

“We’ll find him, but our best bet is still to stay with Vax, here. He’s promised to help us find Caleb.” Fjord’s voice was gentle and reassuring, but Yasha was shaking her head. 

“He said they looked for Caleb for years. What makes you think we’ll have any better luck?”

Beau answered softly “They didn’t know Caleb.” 

There was a moment of tense silence as they all looked at one another, before Percy cleared his throat, looking at Vax. “I know you’re going to want to see Vex right away, but I want us to speak to Allura or Gilmore first.” 

“Why?” Vax pulled his thoughts from the mysterious disappearance of Caleb and turned back to Percy, “I need to see Vex, and Kiki.”

“I know, and I’m not saying you can’t. And I won’t stop you, but I think we need to be smart about this.” Percival sighed, looking Vax up and down with a sad expression, “for all we know, this is temporary, or unstable. We don’t know if you’ll be able to stay. We wondered for a time if perhaps Caleb had returned to his time,” He looked into the faces of the others with a stoic nod, “It seems like that didn’t happen, but we can’t know for sure that you won’t be pulled to a different time, or any number of other possibilities. You know how magic is, Vax!” without warning, Percy stepped forward and took Vax’s hand in his own, “The last thing either of us want is to hurt them.” His voice was soft as he squeezed Vax’s hand. “I just think we should have a magic user weigh in before we get their hopes up. You didn’t have to see how terrible it was for them after you vanished.” 

Vax couldn’t imagine waiting any longer than absolutely necessary to see Keyleth and Vex, _but Percy’s right, if I reappear in their lives again, it has to be for good…_

“A day.” Vax said with a resolute expression, “One day to figure out as much as we can. It’s not fair to keep it from them either.”

“That’s fair.” Percy nodded. 

“Is the ground warm?” Caduceus’ bassy voice sounded mildly amused, and as though he hadn’t been listening to any of the conversation around him. 

“Er- yes.” Percy cleared his throat, looking up at Caduceus with an expression of unchecked curiosity, “We have a system of steam pipes beneath the streets, it keeps the ice and snow from setting on the roads.”

“Fascinating.” Caduceus bent down to touch his hand to the floor, closing his eyes with a bemused smile on his lips. 

“Okay. Let’s go get whoever you’re going to get.” Beau said shortly. “Maybe they’ll be able to help us find Caleb.”

“Very well. I’ll reach out to Allura and Gilmore, we’ll see who’s available.”

“Is Shaun still in Whitestone?” Vax asked eagerly as Percival opened the door once more, sticking his head out and looking around cautiously. 

“He’s set up a franchise. Like he always talked about.” Percy smiled, “he’s one of the reasons we’ve been so successful. We owe a lot to him.” 

“Always have.” Vax said with a smile. “I can walk in the middle of this lot, that should make me tough to spot, even for Vex.” 

Percy nodded and they stepped back out into the brisk air of Whitestone, heading once more up the hill toward the Castle. 

***   
Vax stayed tucked between Fjord and Caduceus as Percy ushered them into the library. 

“You can all wait here while I get in touch with Allura and Gilmore.”

“Thanks, Perce.” Vax smiled as Percy nodded, disappearing into the hallway. 

Vax smiled as the others began poking around the room. Yasha took Nott’s hand and shook her head gently as she pulled her away from a collection of rare coins. Fjord and Beau were looking eagerly at the spines of the books, while Caduceus and Jester took in the many paintings and tapestries hung throughout the room. 

“Woah!” Jester gasped, “Is this your sister, Vax?”

Vax turned to look at the painting she was examining. It was hung near a window, the natural light lending an air of importance to the gorgeous likeness of Lord de Rolo and the Mistress of the Grey Hunt. Vax smiled as he came to stand beside the blue tiefling. “How could you tell?”

“Well, she looks exactly like you.” Caduceus offered, also joining them to look at the painting. “That’s probably how she knew.”

“She’s like a princess.” Jester said dreamily. 

“She’s actually a Baroness.” Vax corrected, “and I suppose she’s a bit like a princess, since Percival’s a bit like a prince.”

“Is that Trinket?” Jester asked eagerly, pointing to the bear, decked out in regal epaulettes affixed to his armor. 

Vax chuckled to himself, “Yep. That’s him.” 

“Will we get to meet him?”

“Hopefully!” Vax said with a smile. He turned to look at the other pictures, making his way to the far corner of the room   

About half an hour passed before Percival returned. They’d each found something to read for a bit, except Caduceus who was happily tracing the threads in the rug and Jester who was sketching furiously in her own sketchbook. Vax sat up, quickly setting aside the book on the history of the Nine Hells that he’d found, and rose as Percy stepped into the room, followed by a tall, broad man with long, dark hair tied back in a braid to match his goatee. 

“Well fuck me, he wasn’t kidding.” Gilmore looked somewhere between disbelieving and ecstatic, but his hesitation melted away the moment he met Vax’s gaze. 

Vax barely had time to register what was happening before he was being swept up in Gilmore’s arms, held tight to the man’s belly, and spun around with a relieved laugh as Shaun set him down once more, holding his cheeks between his hands as he brought their foreheads together to rest there, sharing one another’s breath as he chuckled softly to himself, “I can’t believe it’s really you.” 

Vax sniffled and brought his lips to Gilmore’s cheek before pulling the man in close once more, “Promise you’re not a rakshasa?” he muttered into the taller man’s neck. 

“Only if you do.” Gilmore held him a few moments more, before pulling back, wiping his eyes surreptitiously and gesturing at the others in the room with a broad smile. “I haven’t been properly introduced!”

“Shaun Gilmore, this is The Mighty Nein. I met them in Wildemount.”

“You’re quite the motley crew, aren’t you?” He let his eyes linger on Caduceus for a moment, “A tiefling, a goblin, _and_ a firbolg!” Caduceus grinned up at him from his spot on the floor and Gilmore turned back to Vax, “Percy’s told me his side of the story. Why don’t you give me yours?”

Vax glanced at Percy, who’d closed the door behind them. “Are we waiting on Allura?” 

“Oh, I’m afraid Allura’s far to busy to pop over to Whitestone these days.” Gilmore said with a smile, “She’s a Maker of the Arcana Pansophical and hardly has time to see Kima, let alone us poor souls.” 

“Gods, it’s good to see you, you magnificent man.” Vax squeezed Gilmore’s hand and launched into his tale. The others gathered around them and occasionally (more than occasionally on Jester and Beau’s parts) chimed in with their own bit of information. After they’d finished, the sun was beginning to set and Percival set about lighting the candles held in the various sconces around the room. 

“We need to find Caleb, and hopefully whatever happened is reversible so that he’s not all old forever.” Jester was anxiously braiding Caduceus’ hair as he sat between her legs. 

“We haven’t talked about that, really…” Vax added, “I don’t know if we’d be able to reverse just one of us, or if they’re linked?” His voice trailed off. He didn’t want to reverse it. To reverse it would throw him back in the thick of their struggle with Vecna, back to his promise to the Raven Queen, back to the world on the brink of collapse. He looked around, his eyes lingering on the portrait on the wall and on Percival stood silently in the corner, how could he go back to that timeline now that he’d gotten a chance to live in this one?

“Well, it’s not a type of magic with which I’m familiar. I worry that this might need to be a conversation with someone more… worldly.”

“Are you thinking J’mon?” Percy asked. 

“J’mon would certainly be a good start. They know far more than the sum knowledge most of us will amass in our lives, but I also think perhaps this is worth taking to Allura directly. The Arcana Pansophical keeps tabs on arcane practices that I could never dream of, if anyone knows what sort of magic this is, it would be one of them.”

“Do they know anything about Dunamancy?” Nott piped up from her spot near Beau. 

“About what?” Gilmore turned to look at her, his expression curious. 

Vax caught a nervous glance between Beau and Fjord before Beau answered, “we heard rumors of arcane experiments in Wildemount, but it’s probably just rumors.” Beau gave Nott a not-particularly-subtle jab with her elbow and settled back into a neutral expression of vague hostility. 

Percy caught Vax’s eye and he cocked an eyebrow, _they’d mentioned that before… it was the subject of the book Caleb had been reading when all of this happened._ Vax was immediately on edge. Before these misfits had seemed like an odd group just trying to find their friend, but this was proof they were actively holding back information that might be crucial to understanding what was happening. Vax nodded slightly at Percy, an unspoken promise to speak with him later. 

Gilmore looked between Beau and Nott for a moment before turning back to Vax and Percy, “I’m sorry I couldn’t be more help. The trouble with magic, is those of us who aren’t book-learned often have a hard time understanding it ourselves.” He shrugged, rising to his feet. Fjord also stood quickly, stepping forward to talk to Gilmore as Percy pulled Vax aside.

 “What were they talking about?” Percy asked softly, “Have you heard of Dunamancy?”

“They’d mentioned it before. It’s something to do with the book Caleb was reading when this happened. He was a wizard, so it could be important. I don’t know why they’re trying to hide it, but it could be the key to understanding all this.”

“They said their countries are at war, could it be a military secret?”

“Do these seem like the sort of people you’d trust with military secrets?” Vax snuck a glance back at Fjord, who was hanging on Gilmore’s every word while Nott, Jester, and Yasha whispered conspiratorially. His eyes fell on Beau who, unsurprisingly, was looking right at him, watching him intensely as he spoke with Percival. 

“I suspect many would say the same about us.” Percy muttered, straightening up and walking toward the door, “I’ll leave it to you, if you want to see Vex tonight, I’ll bring you to our house, but I stand by my suggestion that we wait just a bit longer and see if speaking to Allura yields any fruit.”

Vax nodded, uncertain. As much as he wanted to see Vex, the shift in The Mighty Nein’s mood seemed to indicate that there was more at work here than a magical mystery. If they are somehow mixed up in this war, the last thing Vax wanted was to be responsible for dragging Vex and Kiki into it. He trusted Percy could keep his nose clean, turning a blind eye if necessary, but he knew the women in his life were far better than he or Percy could ever hope to be. 

“We’ll speak to Allura tomorrow, first thing. Then I’m going to see Vex.”

Percy sighed and held the door open as Gilmore approached Vax once more. “I can’t help but feel like this is goodbye again…” 

“Isn’t that usually my line?” Vax said with a small grin, “Don’t worry, we need your help to solve this puzzle, you can’t be rid of me quite yet.” 

“Then here’s hoping it’s a very long puzzle.” Gilmore pulled him into a hug once more before stepping through the door. 

Percy looked back at them, “If you don’t mind staying in the castle I’ll have the guest quarters prepared for you to stay the night. Vax can show you where they are when you’re ready to retire. Welcome to Whitestone.” 

“We’re gonna sleep in a castle?” Jester was overcome with joy as Percy and Gilmore’s footsteps echoed down the hallway once more. 

“Vax?” Fjord’s voice was soft as the rest of them chattered about what they liked (or didn’t like) about Whitestone Castle. “How’re you holdin’ up?”

“I’m tired.” Vax answered truthfully. “It’s only been a few days, but somehow I feel like the full 23 years have passed.” He looked at the others, watching Beau blush as Yasha offered to put away the book she was holding. “I miss my girlfriend, my sister, my friends…” 

“I hear what Percival’s trying to say about not wanting to upset them, but don’t you think it’s a bit unfair to be denyin’ them the chance to make up their own minds about it?”

Vax sighed, he knew Fjord was right. “Percy’s good at this.” He muttered, “He can make his ideas seem perfectly reasonable…” 

“I’m not tryin’ to come between the two of you, and I might be oversteppin’, but I don’t want you to miss out on seein’ your girlfriend again,” He looked a bit sad as he looked back to his friends, “Family’s important and you don’t know what’s comin’ tomorrow.”

“You’re missing someone?” Vax hedged. 

Fjord chuckled, “Don’t know if missin’ is the right word, but if I knew where he was, I’d want to say ‘hello’, sure.”

Vax considered adding something about trust but instead he looked up into Fjord’s eyes, “So what would you do? If you were me right now.” 

Fjord thought about it for a second, glancing out the window as he answered, “before I met up with them, I’d probably have waited to talk to the people y’all are wanting to talk to. Now?” A small grin curled at the corner of his lips, “I reckon’ I’d steal that airship and go find your girlfriend. With everything you’ve told us, sounds like she’s a force to be reckoned with, she might be able to help anyway.”

Vax’s eyes widened before he let out a bark of laughter. “You know, that was usually Percy’s solution for things back in the day.”

Fjord looked surprised, eyes darting to the door as he tried to reconcile that recklessness with the quiet, stately man they’d just met. 

Vax’s eyes, for his own part, were glued on the Airship docked on the south side of town. _What if we did?_ he wondered, _What if we flew to Zephrah tonight? We could make it in a few hours, it’s not that far south of Whitestone… We could meet up with Keyleth and bring her back with us to meet Allura and Vex in the morning._ Vax could feel the thoughts churning in his brain as his heart began to beat quicker at the thought of seeing Keyleth again. _If anyone could find Caleb for them, it’d be her._  

He looked over toward the others, most of whom were chatting amongst themselves animatedly. With a surge of energy he turned back toward Fjord, “What if we did?”

“What if we did what?” Fjord cocked an eyebrow. 

“What if we took the airship tonight?”

Fjord’s eyes widened. “Do you know how to fly one?”

Vax laughed, “No idea. But it’s probably a bit like a ship, and I’ve been on a ship before.”

A moment passed as a wide smile split Fjord’s face, “I worked as a sailor before I met these folks, and we were all pirates for a bit. We know our way around a ship.”

Vax knew an opportunity when it presented itself. _Would Vex be furious? Of course! But that’s never stopped me before._ He gave Fjord a long appraising look and then a quick nod. 

“Alright, everybody circle up. We don’t have a lot of time.” Fjord barked, and Vax watched as everyone snapped to attention, the mood in the room going from relaxed to ready in the span of a second. “How would y’all feel about going for a bit of a ride?” He nodded out the window toward the large shape, now barely visible in the settled darkness. 

“What are you saying?” Beau asked, a glimmer of hope in her voice as she rose to her feet. 

“I’m saying… Captain Tusktooth sails again.” 

A chorus of cheers erupted from Jester and Beau as Nott and Caduceus looked a bit ill. Yasha, Fjord and Vax quickly shushed everyone as Vax explained the route to Zephrah. Fjord and Beau began scanning the library for books on airships, hoping they could find one that would give them enough info to fly the thing. Yasha and Nott set about looking for maps of Tal’Dorei, since nothing they had covered any land this far south. Vax was admiring their sudden jump into action when he felt Caduceus loom over him, “Would you mind if I stepped outside for a few minutes? I’m at my most helpful when I’m outdoors.” 

Vax looked up into his mild expression and nodded, “Yeah, I’ll show you to the courtyard.” He turned and found himself face to face with Beau, standing in the doorway.   
“Where are you two going?” Her eyes narrowed. 

“I’m going to go ask the Wildmother for any advice she might have.” Caduceus said amicably.

“I’m going with you.” Beau said. 

“Fair enough.” Vax shrugged, leading the two of them down the hallway toward the front of the castle. 

“You can keep reading, if you want.” Caduceus said gently to Beau, I’ll just be a few minutes.”

“I’ll feel better keeping my eye on you. We shouldn’t be splitting up, y’know?” 

The air outside was cold and Vax shivered in the darkness as Caduceus sat on the ground, closing his eyes and concentrating.

They were out there, like he said, no more than a few minutes before he got to his feet again. “Any luck?” Vax asked curiously. 

“A bit. We’ll have the wind on our side if we leave in the next hour or so.”

“Great, let’s go back inside” Beau grumbled, her teeth chattering as she moved behind them toward the large doors. 

Vax almost missed the small whistling sound entirely. Without warning, Beau threw herself forward, grabbing something out of the air and flinging it away, “Caduceus get down!” She shouted, spinning on her heels to look out into the darkness of the courtyard. Vax heard the clatter of what sounded like an arrow against the stonework as Caduceus ducked down, making his large frame as small as possible.   
The next second he heard the creak of a bow and Vax pulled whisper from his belt, spinning around and feeling himself dissolve into smoke as he reappeared next to their assailant, blinking into a mirror- or- 

“ _Vax?_ ”  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading and for hanging in there for my long stretches of silence. I literally only manage to come back to these because of how much each and every comment means to me. <3 Love you all.


End file.
